Technical

Vetted by a panel of 12 of the world's leading food experts, the six meta-indicators of the Jameel Index were selected to directly map to three of the six dimensions of food security. The criteria for selecting meta-indicators were to have a few as possible that cover the major elements that impact the food trade aspects of food security.

The six indicators

The Six Meta-Indicators are introduced below and are described in detail in the next section.

The criteria for selecting Meta-Indicators were to have a few as possible that cover the major elements that impact the food trade aspects of food security. Six meta-indicators were selected that map directly to three of the six dimensions of food security. The final six meta indicators were vetted by a panel of twelve food policy and trade experts in a series of three virtual and one in-person workshops.

Meta Indicators are developed based on six trade related Topical Indicators listed in Table 2. They will be described in detail in the next section.

Food Security Meta-Indicators

Food Import Dependency Ratio

Measures how dependent a nation’s food supply across all commodities is on imports.

Formula: 
IDRc = IMc / TDc (Food Import Dependency Ratio = Food Imports / Total National Demand)

Feed Import Dependency Ratio

Measures a nation’s feed supply dependency on imports from key grain commodities.

Formula: 
FIDRgc = IDRgc * FRgc (Feed Import Dependency Ratio = Import Dependency Ratio * Feed Use Ratio)

Food Import to Foreign Exchange Ratio

Assesses how much food imports depend on a nation’s total export earnings, indicating economic vulnerability.

Formula: 
FFXRc = FIMc / EX (Food Import Foreign Exchange Ratio = Value of Food Imports / Total Exports)

Supply Chain Reliability

Evaluates the reliability of food supply from exporting nations, focusing on climate variability.

Formula: 
COVc = Σ PXcx * COVcx (Weighted Coefficient of Variation based on exporter reliability)

Supply Chain Robustness

Measures the robustness of the food supply chain based on the number of exporters supplying 80% of imports.

Formula: 
NPc = Number of Exporters (who supply 80% of Commodity C imports)

Climate Policy Impact

Assesses the impact of carbon tax on imported commodities and its effect on food availability and hunger risk.

Formula: 
Step 1: taxCc = Σ (TONcx * CT)
Step 2: perPC = Σc (perPCc * dietc)
Step 3: perFood = ε * perPC
Step 4: deltaRisk = Risktax - Risknotax