India bags 71st position on Global Food Security Index 2021

NEW DELHI: On the Global Food Security (GFS) Index 2021, India ranked 71^st out of 113 countries. Moreover, the country lags behind its immediate neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka in terms of food affordability, according to the report.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka both scored comparatively better than India with 52.6 and 62.9 points respectively in category of food affordability. This information was released by The Economist Impact and Corteva  Agriscience on Tuesday, October 19. This GFS Index was devised by London-based Economist Impact and is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience. This Index measures the underlying drivers of food security in 113 countries on the basis of the following factors of affordability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience. The entire procedure considers 58 unique food security indicators including income and income inequality.

Besides the availability of food, India performed better in quality and safety as well as protecting natural resources for food production. However, the findings of the GFS Index 2021 also exhibited that food security has seen a downfall for the second year, consecutively. According to Pratima Singh, Head of the GFS at Economist Impact, “The index showcases that though the countries have made significant hikes towards addressing food insecurity in the previous ten years, food systems remain vulnerable to economic, climatic, and geopolitical shocks. This requires significant imperatives at all levels- local, national and global, so as to end hunger and ensure that food security prevails for all.’