The UAE has improved 10 places on the Global Food Security Index, moving from last year’s 31 in the rankings to this year’s 21, a media report said.
"The UAE’s impressive improvement in the Global Food Security Index is a testament to the tremendous progress we have made. This is the result of a team effort from the Food Security Office, government entities, private-sector partners and the community to build an integrated ecosystem that can take concrete steps in the national food security sector,” Mariam Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, was quoted as saying by Emirates news agency Wam.
"Enhancing the UAE’s competitiveness and leadership is a main objective of the National Food Security Strategy, which has the goal of taking the UAE into the top 10 countries on the Global Food Security Index by 2021," she added.
She highlighted that the leap the UAE has made in the index, which is issued each year by the Economist Intelligence Unit, represents a new achievement to be added to the country’s track record of successes and reflects the concerted efforts to enhance the UAE’s competitiveness and leadership among nations.
The Global Food Security Index 2019 covered three main criteria – food availability, affordability, and quality and safety – and assessed 113 countries. Singapore and Ireland maintained their lead from last year, coming in first and second place respectively, while the United States, Switzerland, Finland, and Norway were ranked at third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place respectively.
Rounding up the top 10 were Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands and Austria. Meanwhile, the UAE’s move of 10 places up the index saw it overtake highly competitive nations in the food security sector, including Italy, Spain and South Korea.
