Kuwait, with a worldwide ranking of 28, has topped the Middle East countries in the 2014 Global Food Security Index.

DuPont and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recently released the Global Food Security Index to which Kuwait and the UAE were added this year. UAE was ranked 30 and Saudi Arabia 32 on the list. 

The Index measures 109 countries from all over the world on three core indexes which are affordability, availability and quality and safety.

Food security represents a growing global challenge, as the world’s population increases by more than 75 million people each year, reaching more than 9 billion by 2050. Food prices will pose major obstacles to accessibility to food, as billions in the developing world already spend half to three-quarters of their income on food. Increasing shortages of water and arable land, especially in developing nations, will present additional challenges to food security.

While UAE is challenged with obesity and food loss, the 2014 Index examines how these two new factors affect access to safe, nutritious and affordable food.

Seventeen per cent of the global population is overweight and at least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.

“According to the World Bank, four GCC countries are in the global top 20 for obesity: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. DuPont works in close collaboration with customers to find new and better ways to solve food and nutrition challenges and create sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, and healthier life. Our ingredient solutions allow fat and sugar reduction without compromising the sensory eating properties. Our probiotics help improve digestion and boost the immune system,” said Flemming Krabbenhoft, DuPont Danisco, regional sales manager, Gulf Cooperation Council.

The other new indicator, food loss, examines post-harvest and pre-consumer food loss that occurs in various stages of production, processing, transport and storage along the supply chain, such as when edible food products are left in the field or in silos, degraded through improper packaging or consumed by pests. “DuPont is providing effective solutions to eliminate waste through protection and ensuring a more sustainable food supply-one that is safer, more secure, and less vulnerable to foodborne pathogens and spoilage organisms. Considerable efforts have gone into improving production technologies, distribution, hygiene standards and consumer education, yet food outbreaks are still on the rise – impacting global and local health conditions and threatening our already limited food supply,” he added.

DuPont has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802.  The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. – TradeArabia News Service