The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Food Security Index (GFSI) was released in July 2012. It examines the issues of food affordability, availability and quality across a set of 105 developed and developing countries worldwide.
The Economist Intelligence unit's Global Food Security Index (GFSI), released in July 2012, was developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by DuPont. The index is a dynamic benchmarking model that uses quantitative and qualitative indicators to provide a standard against which countries can be measured. It uses data of 105 developed and developing countries from a wide range of international organisations, including the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank and many others.
By incorporating a wide range of indicators and geographies, the index enables targeted comparisons to highlight where interventions are most needed. Beginning in September 2012, the index will feature a unique quarterly adjustment, based on shifts in food prices and other macroeconomic factors, that allows it to serve as an early warning of potential price shocks that might compromise or further degrade a country's food security.
To generate an overall score, the index constructs separate scores for the categories of affordability, availability, and food quality and safety. Each of these categories is further subdivided into a series of indicators that evaluate programmes, policies or practices influencing food security. Working closely with a panel of experts, the EIU identified the key determinants of food security and calibrated 25 individual indicators to reflect the contribution of each indicator to overall levels of food security.
