Finland Rated No. 1 - This Time in Food Security
Image: YLE Etelä-Karjala
Still riding high on Newsweek's ranking as the best place to live in the world, Finland has received a less-tangible honour: being rated as having the planet's best food security.
The ranking, though, comes from a more obscure source: Maplecroft, a risk-management consultancy based in Bath, England.
Its Food Security Risk Index published on Thursday lists 163 countries in terms of their risks to the supply of basic food staples, based on 12 criteria developed with the World Food Programme. These include the nutritional and health status of the populace, cereal production and imports, GDP per capita, natural disasters, conflict and government efficiency.
The company says "Finland (163) is the country considered least at risk, whilst the other Scandinavian countries - Sweden (162), Denmark (161) and Norway (160) - follow closely behind". Others with low risk are in Western Europe and North America.
It rates Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi as the three most at-risk countries for food crisis. More than two thirds of the 50 most vulnerable countries are in Africa.
Nations at moderate risk include Finland's eastern neighbour, Russia, where this year's harvest has been decimated by drought and fires.
Newsweek: Finland World’s Best Country
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