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Food is the ultimate security need

1 September 2011

A new map of food security risk around the world demonstrates the sickening, symbiotic relationship between lack of food and conflict: where one leads, the other follows.

Produced by risk analysts Maplecroft, the index, reviewed last year by the World Food Programme, uses 12 types of data to derive a measure of food risk that is based on the UN FAO’s concept. That covers the availability, access and stability of food supplies, as well as the nutritional and health status of populations.

Sub-saharan Africa leaps out most as the place where people fear for their next meal. Turning to India, the map reminds us that behind the booming economy of that vast nation, hundreds of millions of poor people remain hungry. Spain and Portugal stand out as very rare examples of rich nations with a medium risk of food security problems. While water problems are an issue there, the major reason is heavy reliance on grain imports.

Read the full article and view the map at The Guardian, then share your views in our Comments section below. More news headlines can be found in our News Archive.