The recent upsurge in agricultural input prices has triggered considerable alarm about rising costs of food production, which in a free market economy will be typically passed onto consumers through higher food prices. Already, the impacts on prices are captured by the rising FAO Food Price Index (FFPI), which reached a ten-year high in August 2021. This appears to be supported by developments in input prices, as evidenced by the newly constructed Global Input Price Index (GIPI, see Box and Figure 1). This Special Feature examines the pathways and impacts of rapidly rising input prices, especially those of energy derived from fossil fuels, which can have detrimental effects on the global food economy in terms of their influence on food prices and future price developments, as well as their likely consequences for global food security. In addition, emphasis is duly placed on those most likely to be hit the hardest – consumers in economically-vulnerable, importdependent countries, given that much of their income is spent on food and energy, bringing about high exposure. A number of fundamental features of agricultural markets emerge from Figure 1. Firstly, the rapid rise and the current multiyear high in international food prices are bewing accompanied by an equally rapid rise and a multiyear high in (variable) production costs. The near synchronous change in revenues and costs keeps overall farm profitability in check. Secondly, this co-movement between agricultural product prices and agricultural input prices is a general