T his paper considers the implications of rising prices of major food commodities in southern Africa. First, a global perspective on the phenomenon is provided, focusing on the key factors driving the upsurge in prices. Recent trends in food prices in a representative selection of southern African countries are then considered. Emerging evidence of poverty impacts is presented. The policy challenges and options facing the region’s governments are then discussed. Broad conclusions round out the analysis. The paper’s central argument is that appropriate policy responses to effects of rising food prices involve a mix of short-term social protection responses, long-term measures aimed at spurring agricultural productivity growth, and domestic and regionally conceived and implemented efforts to rationalize and strengthen the roles of public sectors in the region’s food economies