The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Wednesday that real prices for global agricultural products will continue their gradual decline over the next decade because of a combination of strong crop yields, higher productivity, and slower growth in global demand. The FAO said in a report that as the low cost of oil pushes energy and fertilizer costs down and removes incentives for the production of first-generation biofuels made from food crops, food prices will continue to slope downwards over the next 10 years. Despite the advantageous scenario regarding global food pricing, prices will likely remain at levels above those at the beginning of the 2000s, the report said. According to the FAO, major changes in demand are expected throughout the developing world amid a growing population, rising per capita incomes, and urbanization which, the report said, will increase demand for food. The report also said that rising incomes will prompt consumers to continue diversifying their diets, notably by increasing their consumption of animal protein relative to starches. As a result, the prices of meat and dairy products are expected to be high relative to crop prices. Among crops, the prices of coarse grains and oilseeds, used for animal feed, should rise relative to the prices of food staples.