Bangladesh ranks 20th in list of food shortage risk
Thursday, 10 September 2009
PARIS, Sept 8 (AFP): Most of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are facing extreme or high risk of food shortages, according to a ranking of 148 nations obtained by AFP on Monday.
The five countries topping the risk list -- Angola, Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo -- are all mired in poverty, but other factors also boost vulnerability.
The three most populous countries in South Asia also face food precariousness: Pakistan, ranked 11th on the index, is at "extreme risk," while Bangladesh and India are both at "high risk," ranked 20th and 25th respectively.
The United States is least at risk followed by France, Canada, Germany and the Czech Republic, according to the Food Security Risk Index, calculated from dozens of variables that determine a country's capacity to feed its people.
Food stress jumped toward the top of the global agenda after soaring commodity prices in 2007 and 2008 sparked riots in 30 countries, including many tottering on the brink of severe shortages or widespread hunger.
The World Bank estimates that food inflation during that period pushed an additional 100 million people into deep poverty, on top of a billion that were already scraping by on less than a dollar a day.
Poverty is a major source of food vulnerability but not the only one, said the study by Maplecroft, a Britain-based firm that provides risk intelligence for businesses.
"Food security is also affected by agricultural development, trade flows, foreign aid as well as government policies on nutrition," said Alyson Warhurst, a professor at Warwick Business School in central England and co-director of Maplecroft.
The five countries topping the risk list -- Angola, Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo -- are all mired in poverty, but other factors also boost vulnerability.
The three most populous countries in South Asia also face food precariousness: Pakistan, ranked 11th on the index, is at "extreme risk," while Bangladesh and India are both at "high risk," ranked 20th and 25th respectively.
The United States is least at risk followed by France, Canada, Germany and the Czech Republic, according to the Food Security Risk Index, calculated from dozens of variables that determine a country's capacity to feed its people.
Food stress jumped toward the top of the global agenda after soaring commodity prices in 2007 and 2008 sparked riots in 30 countries, including many tottering on the brink of severe shortages or widespread hunger.
The World Bank estimates that food inflation during that period pushed an additional 100 million people into deep poverty, on top of a billion that were already scraping by on less than a dollar a day.
Poverty is a major source of food vulnerability but not the only one, said the study by Maplecroft, a Britain-based firm that provides risk intelligence for businesses.
"Food security is also affected by agricultural development, trade flows, foreign aid as well as government policies on nutrition," said Alyson Warhurst, a professor at Warwick Business School in central England and co-director of Maplecroft.