DuPont Launches New Global Food Security Index

On July 10, American biotechnology company DuPont launched a new Global Food Security Index that examines the core issues of food affordability, availability, access, and quality across a set of 105 countries worldwide. The index was unveiled at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, in conjunction with food security thought leaders and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which developed the index with sponsorship from DuPont.

In keynote remarks, DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman noted that the creation of the index was essential to help define a set of agreed-upon measures of food security. “What gets measured gets done,” she said.

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, who also spoke at thelaunch event, called the Global Food Security Index “one of the most significant steps forward” in addressing global hunger.

The interactive website that houses the new index allows users to download and manipulate data for analysis. The index utilizes data from bodies such as the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, and the U.N. World Health Organization, and also lays out a comprehensive definition of food security that includes nutritional value. Key findings of the index include that governments can improve national food security by increasing farmers’ access to commercial finance, building strong food safety nets, and providing better information about nutrition and diet diversification.