Food Sustainability Index (FSI): 2018

The Food Sustainability Index (FSI) was developed in collaboration between the Barilla centre for food and nutrition (BCFN Foundation) and the Economist Intelligence Unit, with one common objective, i.e. to promote knowledge on food sustainability.

The Food Sustainability Index (FSI) ranks 67 countries on food system sustainability. It is a quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model constructed from 38 indicators and 90 individual metrics that measure the sustainability of food systems across three categories:

Food Loss and Waste,
Sustainable Agriculture
Nutritional Challenges.

Using the three pillars of nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and food loss and waste, the index provides a tool that can shed light on the progress countries are making on the path to a more sustainable food system.

The indicators measured by the FSI can also highlight how food sustainability can help to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the objectives of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and accelerate moves to a low-carbon future.

The index has three key types of performance indicators:

Environmental,
Societal,
Economic.

Key Findings of Food Sustainability Index (FSI): 2018

France is in first place among 35 high-income countries in the 2018 edition of the FSI, followed by the Netherlands and Canada.
Colombia is the leading middle-income country, out of 23 countries.
Despite the increase in food production, the FSI 2018 ranked India 4th among middle income group countries.
China is second overall in the middle-income group of countries. The country is first in both the food loss and waste and nutritional challenges categories in this income group.
India did well on preventing food loss and wastage, but is below average in sustainable agriculture and is one of the worst while tackling nutritional challenges. India also fares badly on parameters like quality of life and land use patterns.
Among nine low-income countries, Rwanda shows the strongest performance overall, well ahead of Uganda in second place and Ethiopia in third.