2020 Global Food Security Index shows overall decline in food security
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released on Tuesday the ninth annual Global Food Security Index (GFSI) sponsored by Corteva, which measures the underlying drivers of food security in 113 countries, based on the factors of affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience.
The GFSI considers food security in the context of income and economic inequality, gender inequality, and environmental and natural resources inequality – calling attention to systemic gaps and most recently how COVID-19 exacerbates their impact on food systems. Based on these findings, global food security has decreased for the second year in a row, prnewswire.com wrote.
“Sponsoring the Global Food Security Index is part of Corteva Agriscience’s long-term commitment to growing progress,” said James C. Collins, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Corteva Agriscience. “With food security declining again, we all must heed the urgent call to renew our collective commitment to innovation and collaboration. Our future is only as secure as our food system and agriculture is at the heart of it. Together we must better support global food security.”
This year, the GFSI formally includes “Natural Resources and Resilience” as a fourth main category. This addition marks a significant shift in methodology, revealing food systems’ resiliency against climate change. The sub-indicators under this category include food import dependency, disaster risk management and projected population growth. The 2020 index also measures gender inequality and inequality-adjusted income as sub-indicators for the first time in its history.
For the third consecutive year, the North America region is leading the world in food security. Europe is a close second, accounting for eight of the top 10 countries. Using the new methodology, Finland tops the list while last year’s leader, Singapore, drops down to 19th place. Ireland retains its second rank position, while the United States moves to 11th place.
The new methodology underscores the importance of climaterisk management and its link to food security. “Incorporating the Natural Resources and Resilience category as part of the main index highlights the impact of climate-related factors on food systems and food security” said Pratima Singh, project lead for the Global Food Security Index at The EIU. “It is critical that climate risk becomes a core part of the dialogue on food security. We hope this will drive much-needed action on developing policies that can build a stronger and more sustainable global food system.”
Building resilient agriculture
The GFSI 2020 shows that rising temperatures and global warming have a direct impact on the agricultural sector and food system.
Highly volatile agriculture production in countries like Australia, Norway and Sweden demonstrates the risk that climate change poses to agriculture and food production.
The GFSI finds that agricultural production has become more vulnerable in 49 countries compared to the previous index period.
While climate change is notably creating new challenges, farmers are still required to anticipate demand for volume of food. With the increasing impact of extreme weather conditions and demand, there is a great need for staple crops that are more tolerant to extreme weather and can thrive with limited water as well as in poor or limited soil.
Corteva is innovating to make crops more resilient, so they can thrive in poor soils and better withstand extreme temperatures, droughts, and new infestations. The company’s precision agriculture technology delivers whole-farm solutions, empowering farmers to use data to solve problems in the field. It’s all part of helping farmers and building a more secure food system.
Supporting smart agriculture
The GFSI 2020 shows creative supply chain solutions powered by new technologies can help alleviate challenges to food security and farmer well-being. A successful mobile technology program can help farmers to anticipate market demands and respond in time, as well as connect them with the right resources, suppliers and markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed existing vulnerabilities in the global food system. Although the various stakeholders have been quick to respond, the lockdown restrictions, and resulting economic fallout, have had a disproportionate impact on those living below the poverty line with limited, if any, social protections. In the agricultural sector, smallholder farmers, the majority of whom reside in rural areas, have suffered a significant loss of income as lockdowns have prevented market access and interrupted the planting season.
Corteva Agriscience is working with supply chain partners to anticipate shifts in global demand and thus continuing to help ensure a reliable food supply. The company’s mobile software puts market data in farmers’ hands to enable them to make better business decisions. Corteva’s advanced seed breeding methodologies provide the right high-yielding potential products and agronomic advice helps farmers put it on the right hectare, for the right market.
Advancing sustainable agriculture
The GFSI shows that sustainable farming is essential to food security and farmer productivity. The index shows that the global food systems have been under strain even before the COVID-19 began to spread, with many countries struggling to increase productivity, adapt to a worsening climate and reduce environmental harm. In 2020, both Australia and the US were impacted by high levels of land degradation, ranking 81st and 63rd respectively on the land degradation indicator. According to the index, Latin America suffering from irregular rainfall and above-average temperatures between June and July 2019 led to a second consecutive year of crop failure in the ‘Dry Corridor’ spanning Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Aman in China scaled a utility pole to do sit-ups off the top of it, stunning onlookers and causing a power cut to thousands of homes, media said Tuesday.
The unnamed man was taken away by police following his antics on Sunday evening on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Chengdu, the People’s Daily said, AFP reported.
It published a video on the Twitter-like Weibo showing the man suspended about 10 meters (30 feet) in the air as he did a stomach crunch off the top of the pylon.
“The local power company initiated an emergency power cut... affecting tens of thousands of households,” the People’s Daily said.
Emergency services, including medical personnel, rushed to the scene, The Paper in Shanghai said.
It was not clear why the man decided to do sit-ups off the pole but state media warned against anyone copying him. “The man’s behavior is too dangerous!” said one outlet. The incident was a hot topic on Chinese social media, with at least 1.7 million views of one hashtag relating to it.
“I was annoyed because no electricity... and when I see the news and know the reason, I feel annoyed and amused at the same time,” said one Weibo user affected by the bizarre incident. Another on Weibo did not find it so funny. “Blackouts can waste a lot of money and potentially lead to a fatal accident,” they said.
Local police were unavailable for comment.