Food inflation remains on a worrying upward trajectory, with SA and UK food inflation running at about double the rate of their headline inflation rates. That's completely at odds with the steady decline in global food prices since March last year. We look into what could be contributing to this fundamental disconnect.

Houston, we have a problem. This week's inflation data highlighted a glaring disconnect in the global food price chain, with the prices we are paying at grocery stores still on the rise while global food prices have been declining steadily since March last year. So, what's up?

In South Africa, food price inflation reached a 15-year high of 14.4% in March, more than double the headline inflation rate of 7.1%. Meanwhile, the UK is facing its steepest increases in food prices since 1977, with UK food inflation closing in on 20% in March compared with its double-digit headline rate of 10.1%.

Food price inflation in Germany has been tracking at 22.3% this year, while in the US, the food inflation rate is a far lower 8.5%, but still running ahead of its 5% overall inflation rate.

In stark contrast, global food prices, as measured by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index, paint a completely different picture, having fallen more than 20% since March last year after shedding another 2.1% between February and March.

A range of reasons has been put forward to explain this economic anomaly, many of which put it down to regionally specific...