The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released the ninth Global Food Security Index (GFSI), sponsored by Corteva Agriscience. The GFSI 2020 considers food security in the context of income and economic inequality, gender inequality, and environmental and natural resources inequality. The index calls attention to systemic gaps and how COVID-19 exacerbated their impact on food systems. Based on these findings, global food security has decreased for the second year in a row.
“The index reveals the rigorous challenges around food security and highlights solutions for a stronger global food system,” said James C. Collins, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Corteva Agriscience. “As the sponsor of the EIU Global Food Security Index, Corteva Agriscience believes that the report adds urgency to our purpose to enrich lives. We are certainly proud to be doing our part in the food supply system to create a more food secure world.”
This year, EIU’s GFSI measures the drivers of food security through the underlying factors of affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience in the region. According to the North America special report from the EIU, North America is the top-performing region overall. The U.S. and Canada are ranked 11th and 12th respectively, with the U.S. giving up third place and Canada giving up eighth place from 2019’s ranking. According to the report, the region experienced more consistent improvement in the food availability category, while its performance in the food affordability category declined due to rising food prices. In contrast, the EIU report notes levels of food loss and waste in the North American region are higher than in other regions; waste per capita is estimated to be between 30% and 40%.
The regional report also highlights that both countries have good infrastructure that supports effective food distribution and preservation in each country although performance in expenditure on agricultural research and development category has been on a steady decline since 2012.Both Canada and the U.S. have been noted to be performing below both countries’ potential, with opportunity to increase financial and technical resources to boost innovation in the sector.
“Although there is still plenty of work to do, we are still encouraged by North America’s leadership in food security,” said, Tim Glenn, EVP, Chief Commercial Officer of Corteva Agriscience. “Agriculture sits at the heart of food security, and technology solutions are key to helping farmers produce more food sustainability. That’s why Corteva Agriscience focuses on developing innovative seed, crop protection and digital solutions that farmers need to solve key challenges they face every day. It’s all part of helping farmers and building a more secure food system.”
Since launching as an independent company, Corteva has launched innovative new corn and soybean traits, including Qrome® corn technology and the Enlist™ weed control system, new digital solutions, and has announced its entry into the growing biologicals segment. Corteva has recently announced its 2030 Sustainability Goals aimed at increasing the resilience of our global food system and advancing sustainable agriculture to enrich lives and our planet for generations to come. The 14 goals include a commitment to provide tools for farmers to increase yield stability, optimize inputs, and improve climate resilience.
This year, the GFSI formally includes “Natural Resources and Resilience” as a fourth main category, marking significant shift in methodology and demonstrating country’s 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. Inclusion of these critical metrics in the 2020 methodology heightens the overall decline in scores and changes in rankings.
The 2020 GFSI shows that strengthening agriculture in the face of tough challenges such as climate volatility and declining natural resources are more important than ever. Corteva’s seed, crop protection and digital solutions are focused on helping farmers sustainably increase yield and productivity while protecting the land and environment for future generations.
