A new index has ranked 60 countries on food system resilience across four pillars: affordability; availability; quantity and safety; and climate risk responsiveness.
Underpinned by two long-running benchmarking initiatives - the Global Food Security Index and the Food Sustainability Index - the Resilient Food Systems Index (RFSI) from Economist Enterprise, supported by Cargill, provides a benchmark of countries’ capacity to produce and deliver sufficient, affordable and nutritious food amid increasingly frequent, severe and interconnected risks.
“The defining question for food systems today is not only how can the world deliver sufficient, affordable and nutritious food for all, but whether it can do so while withstanding disruption,” the report says.
Setting out the findings in the Resilient Food Systems Index: Global Report, the top ranked ten countries are Portugal, followed by France, UK, Japan, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Singapore and Malaysia. The bottom ten countries on ranking are Nicaragua, Romania, Lebanon, Rwanda, Namibia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, with the Democratic Republic of Congo placed in 60th position.
“A 42-point gap between the most resilient and the most vulnerable food systems, Portugal and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), reveals that global food-system resilience is unevenly distributed,” says the report. And it adds: “Between these two extremes, some countries remain vulnerable across multiple dimensions. Others have built pockets of strength in affordability, safety standards or innovation. But even the most resilient countries fall short and no country in the index is insulated from shocks or long-term pressures.”
The report warns that the area where almost all countries have weaknesses is in terms of climate risk responsiveness and food availability.
“As climate exposure accelerates faster than adaptation, biological risks are intensifying in its wake. Pest control and disease transmission are undermining yields, raising input costs, distorting trade flows and accelerating environmental damage. Together, this is compounding climate stress and exposing gaps in preparedness across the value chain. Only a third of countries in the RFSI score high on pest infestation and disease management,” the report says.
To understand where targeted investment and policy co-ordination can materially strengthen food systems, improve livelihoods and secure nutrition outcomes over the long term, the index considers the pathways best suited to achieving these goals.
One of these pathways is R&D. With climate risk responsiveness being the weakest pillar in the index across the 60 countries, the report says that: “Most countries are investing in low emissions agricultural R&D and sustainable farming practices. Scaling their impact into food system-wide climate resilience will require enforceable sector-specific targets and strategies.” But the report notes: “The constraint is not innovation but follow through." It said policy and blended capital support for low-emissions research and development and sustainable farming practices is widespread, yet, political commitment to mitigation and adaptation lags far behind.
The report also draws attention to how interconnected global food systems are, with just 15 countries producing 70% of the world’s food. Eleven of these countries are also among the top 15 exporters, accounting for more than 60% of global food exports. “The strengths and risks in their local systems cascade across borders, impacting the resilience of the global food system," the report said. While many major exporters and producers of crop and livestock products score above the global average on the index, none approaches a level of resilience that would insulate the global system from shocks, the report says.
Considering the policy initiatives in support of improved food security, Economist Enterprise points to Singapore’s Food Story 2 (SFS2). Singapore imports more than 90 percent of its food, making it vulnerable to external shocks and supply chain disruptions, which could arise from factors such as climate change, disease outbreaks, and geopolitical developments. The SFS2 aims to strengthen overall food resilience – ensuring there is sufficient food supply in times of disruption through four pillars of diversification of imports, global partnerships, stockpile and grow local.
The index ranks Singapore 9th out the 60 countries, making it the highest ranked country in Southeast Asia. “The results offer an independent, data driven endorsement of Singapore’s Food Story 2 strategy, confirming that a city-state without agricultural land can build a world-class food system through trade, partnership and targeted investment rather than production alone,” said John Fering, group president, Food APAC, Cargill.
Further reading:
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Europe sets out fertiliser plans as concerns about global food prices grow
- Agriculture R&D: Spending and researcher numbers grow
- Turning agrifood waste into sustainable protein with fermentation
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