The benchmark index of international food commodity prices rose in April for the first time in a year, amid increases in world quotations for sugar, meat and rice, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations reported  Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities, averaged 127.2 points in April 2023, up 0.6 percent from March.

At that level, the Index was 19.7 percent below its level in April 2022, but still 5.2 percent higher than in April 2021.

And the FAO Cereal Price Index dipped 1.7 percent from March.