Baba Tabita / Wikimedia CommonsA woman prepares bread in Tanzania, a country with insufficient production of fish, vegetables, and meatBaba Tabita / Wikimedia Commons
Only one country in the world produces the seven basic foods in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of its population: Guyana, one of the smallest countries in South America. According to a study by the University of Göttingen, Germany, that analyzed food production in 186 countries, China and Vietnam came in second, producing enough food to meet the needs of their populations in six of seven categories (fruits; vegetables; dairy; fish; meat; nuts and seeds; and starchy staples). Six countries—Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Macau, Qatar, and Yemen—have failed to achieve self-sufficiency in any food group. Brazil has done so in five categories—the two missing were vegetables and fish. The study found that many countries still rely on a single trading partner for more than half of their food imports. “Heavy reliance on imports from single countries can leave nations vulnerable,” Jonas Stehl, an economist at the University of Göttingen, told the website ScienceAlert (Nature Food, May 16).
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