Singapore is first, Vietnam is fourth in Southeast Asia food security ranking

HANOI, Dec 16, 2019, VN Express. Fourth in Southeast Asia and 54th in the world, Vietnam performs well on Economist Intelligence Unit food security index. A top world rice exporter, the country scored an overall 64.6 out of 100 points, higher than the 62.9 average among 113 countries and territories, VN Express reported.

Compared to Southeast Asia peers, Vietnam lags behind Singapore (1st place), Malaysia (28th) and Thailand (52th), though ranking above Indonesia (62th), the Philippines (64th), Myanmar (77th), Cambodia (90th) and Laos (92th).

Vietnam did well in eight indicators – presence and quality of food safety net programs, access to financing for farmers, change in average food costs, proportion of population under global poverty line, food safety, volatility of agricultural production, urban absorption capacity and food loss – with a score above 75.

However, it struggled in public expenditure on agricultural research and development with 1.7 points, and affordability of food with 5.3 points, which fall below the world average of 5.0 and 17.8 respectively.

Singapore topped the global index ranking with an 87.4 overall score, making it the only country in Asia to finish in the top 10. Ireland and the U.S. each earned an overall score of 84 and 83.7 to follow Singapore and complete the global top three.

Conflict-torn Yemen, Burundi and Venezuela made up the bottom three.