Sri Lanka, July 15 -- Food supply chains were strained or broken, domestically as well as internationally back in 2020 (not yet in 2026, but there are five months left). It is natural and necessary in such circumstances (and now, as we look realistically at food supply chains as different countries respond to the Trump-Netanyahu mess in West Asia) to think about food security. But it is important to think intelligently and in ways informed by evidence.

All rankings and indexes have flaws, either in the data that form their basis or in their design. But they provide a useful starting point for evidence-based discussion. The Global Food Security Index comprised three components: affordability, availability, quality and safety. A new compo...