USDA's Economic Research Service report examines global food security

In a post on the USDA Blog, economists Stacey Rosen and Shahla Shapouri of the Economic Research Service's (ERS) Food Security and Development Branch describe the latest ERS International Food Security Assessment, which covers 76 countries in Asia, Latin America, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. "For 2012, we estimate the situation overall to improve slightly, with the number of food-insecure people declining to 802 million people, from 814 million in 2011. The decade ahead presents a different picture, with food-insecure numbers rising by 37 million, although this 4.6 percent increase is below the 16.7 percent rise in population," they write, noting, "The key factors we measure in determining the level of food security are countries' domestic food production and their import capacity" (8/2).