Czech Republic Boasts Some of Safest and Best Quality Food in World

According to the recently published results of the already ninth edition of The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) of The Economist – the British weekly periodical, the Czech Republic placed fifth in the ranking of food availability, quality or safety.

In addition, the ranking, which compared 113 countries this year based on a set of 59 unique indicators, also focused on natural resources, their status or impacts and risks related to climate change.

It was the state of natural resources in the Czech Republic that was evaluated very positively in the index. While the proportion of degraded land in the world is around 20% on average, in our country it is only 6% of the land that is degraded, e.g. eroded or contaminated.

The mild climate of our territory or politicians’ interest in the topic of food safety are examples of factors that contributed to the high ranking.

Diversity in local dishes was also evaluated above average. Other strengths (i.e., indicators in which the Czech Republic scored higher than 75 points) included, for example, a very low percentage of people living below the poverty line, agricultural advancement including investment in research and development, or the availability of financial resources and services for farmers.

Four European countries came ahead of the Czech Republic, which had a score of 78.6 points: Finland (85.3 points), Ireland (83.8 points), the Netherlands (79.9 points) and Austria (79.4 points).

Very closely behind them was Great Britain with 78.5 points and Sweden with78.1 points. The top ten countries also include Israel, followed by Japan and Switzerland. Germany, with which the Czech Republic is often compared regarding food quality, placed 13th, while our Slovak neighbours were 40th.

The complete results of all evaluated countries can be found here.

According to Pratima Singh, Head of the Global Food Security Index at Economist Impact, “The index shows that, while countries have made significant strides toward addressing food insecurity in the past ten years, food systems remain vulnerable to economic, climatic, and geopolitical shocks. Action is imperative at all levels–local, national, and global–to end hunger and malnourishment and ensure food security for all.”

In its global report, Economist Impact stated that the Index shows that to meet these present and emerging future challenges requires that investments in food security are sustained – from innovation in climate-resilient crop yields to investing in programs to assist the most vulnerable.