EIU Report Says Food Security Has Improved in Most Countries, But The Global Food Security Index Shows Low-Income Countries Remain Vulnerable

29 Jun 2016 --- Global economic growth has led to structural developments that are essential to improving access to affordable, nutritious foods, including more extensive food safety-net programmes and better food transport infrastructure. But most of the food-security improvements in the last five years, according to the latest EIU index, have been in middle-income countries. Low-income countries continue to lag behind.

The GFSI, sponsored by DuPont, is an annual benchmarking index that provides a common framework for understanding the root causes of food insecurity by examining the dynamics of food systems around the world. Through this framework, the GFSI has created a unique country-level food-security measurement tool that addresses the issues of affordability, availability and utilisation in 113 countries.

Low-income countries often lack basic infrastructure, and smaller incomes inhibit access to and affordability of nutritious food. Political risk and corruption frequently compound structural difficulties in these countries. These issues are exacerbated by the risk of future climate change. Changing weather patterns, drought, increased rainfall and flooding will have a significant impact in the long term, potentially pushing up food prices and increasing production volatility.

In the light of current and future food-security challenges in low-income countries, the GFSI stresses that advancements in these countries must be a priority. How can low-income, developing countries progress despite the obstacles they face? Governments will need to invest in the development and implementation of new technologies to make countries more resilient to changing weather patterns and narrow the gap between low-income and middle-income countries. Private investment must also be increased.

Now in its fifth year, the GFSI has become a policy check for governments and a country diagnostic tool for investment. Non-governmental organisations and multilaterals have turned to the GFSI as a research tool to identify key countries in which to focus advocacy efforts for food-security challenges.