Data collection and analysis tools for food security and nutrition

particularly for staple cereal grains and cooking 
oils. The food price crisis of 2007-08, for example, 
revealed how the lack of data transparency may 
compromise the efficient operation of international 
commodity markets, leading to instability and 
price shocks. This spurred a series of initiatives 
aimed at increasing coordination and transparency 
within international food commodity markets, 
including the commitment of the Members of 
the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD) to disclose the 
information on public stocks held of major food 
commodities (wheat, maize, rice and soybean). 
Such information is crucial to understanding the 
implications of international food price movements 
for food security. This led to the creation of the 
Agricultural Market Information System
(AMIS) 
(
BOX 2
), a tool that has proven extremely useful to 
reduce tensions in international food markets and 
contributed information on food security 
stability.
A very important contribution of existing 
international data systems to FSN is the 
information provided on environmental 
sustainability. The environmental statistics 
domain in FAOSTAT, for example, publishes 
estimates of emissions from crop and livestock 
production, emissions and removals from land 
use, land use change and fossil fuel energy use, 
at the country, regional and global levels.
Closely related to sustainability is the biodiversity 
of an agroecosystem, the monitoring of which is 
required to improve management practices in 
food production systems for ecological health 
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DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS TOOLS FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION
(Gemmill-Herren, 2020). The Agrobiodiversity 
Index (ABDI) tool is used to collect data, in 
order to provide stakeholders, businesses 
and policymakers with information about 
consumption and markets, production systems 
and genetic resource conservation. However, 
there is a lack of globally consistent data for 
several vital components of agrobiodiversity, 
including consumption, production and less 
reliance on local and wild species. Therefore, 
shared international data collection, detailed 
analyses and reporting systems are required to 
help fill critical data gaps (Jones 
et al., 2021).
This illustrative review shows that there is 
indeed a wealth of information relevant to the 
availability, access, stability and sustainability 
dimensions of food security at the macro 
level. It highlights the critical importance of 
data 
harmonization to permit comparability 
over time and across context, as well as data 
transparency. Substantial progress has been 
made with regards to both, as illustrated in 
the FAOSTAT and AMIS examples. There are, 
however, important ongoing limitations. Much 
of the food and agriculture data remain at highly 
aggregate level (i.e., national level), which is 
understandable given the cost and complexity 
of collecting disaggregated data (for instance, 
through farm and population surveys).