Study Finds There Is Only One Country In The World That Produces Enough Food To Feed All Of Its Citizens
Spoiler alert: It's not the United States.
AlessandroBiascioli | Shutterstock Amid tariff wars and trade disputes, the demand for American-made products is increasing. And, though the United States produces much of its own food, it's far from self-sufficient. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration claims that the U.S. imports roughly 15% of its food supply to help meet consumer demands.
The U.S. is certainly not the only country to require imported food to feed its citizens, though. A recent study found that only one country in the world is able to produce enough food to meet the dietary needs of its entire population.
A study found that Guyana is the only country in the world that produces enough food to feed all of its citizens.
A recent study published in Nature Food set out to see which countries could meet specific dietary guidelines based solely on domestic production. The research focused on seven main food groups: fruits, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, plant-based protein, and starchy staples.
The results showed that, out of 186 countries, the South American country of Guyana is the only one that can sufficiently feed all of its citizens without foreign imports. Its agricultural success is attributed to a favorable climate and good-quality, fertile soil.
Leonid Andronov | Shutterstock
China and Vietnam were close seconds, producing a sufficient amount of food in six out of the seven assessed food groups. The U.S., however, only produces enough food in four of the groups, and lacks in the production of fruits, vegetables, and fish.
"Only one in seven countries achieve self-sufficiency in five or more food groups, most within Europe and South America," the researchers noted.
Many countries were found to overproduce some food groups while underproducing others.
Several countries produce more food than is necessary, though not in all categories. "Meat self-sufficiency is relatively high, with 65% of countries (over)achieving their dietary need," the study reported.
The production of nutrient-dense plants, on the other hand, was found to be lacking, as less than 50% of the included countries produce enough plant-based protein and starchy staples. Only 24% produce enough vegetables.
Europe and South America as a whole were closer to self-sufficiency than other continents, but other than Guyana, none had countries that met all seven food group requirements. Countries with certain disadvantages, such as low-income countries and island states, were less self-sufficient and therefore more reliant on foreign food imports.
Six of the assessed countries didn't meet any of the dietary guidelines: Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Macao, Qatar, and Yemen. These countries were not self-sufficient in any of the categories.
A country's low self-sufficiency may be due to a variety of factors.
Dr. Jonas Stehl, one of the researchers on the study, told BBC Science Focus that "Low self-sufficiency is not inherently bad. There are valid and often beneficial reasons why a country may not produce the majority of the food it needs."
The geographical location of a country may not provide ideal growing conditions, like low rainfall, poor soil, and temperature instability. Stehl added that it might cost less for a country to import food from other regions.
However, not being self-sufficient can make a country vulnerable to sudden problems like tariffs, trade bans, wars, and inclement weather. In the study, the researchers concluded, "Low self-sufficiency and overdependence on a few countries for imports threaten their capability to respond to global shocks, particularly for small states."
Stehl suggested that the interest in self-sufficiency may be a result of political shifts, "growing nationalism and a desire among some to reduce dependence on foreign countries."
Kayla Asbach is a writer currently working on her bachelor's degree at the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.
