FAO.org

One of the main pillars of food security is food supply, which refers to the availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or imports. In this paper, we use quantities of commercialized foods from the Supply and Utilization Accounts (SUA) compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to analyze trends in food available for consumption based on by region and country income level group.

Results show that, in general, food groups available for consumption differ across income-level country groups. There are nonetheless evident regional trends. Low-income and lower-middle-income countries have a high reliance on staple foods, and only upper-middle-income countries and Asia have enough fruits and vegetables available to meet the FAO/World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of consuming a minimum of 400 grams per day. In addition, the availability of animal-source foods, as well as sugars and fats, overall is highest in high-income countries, but it is increasing fast in upper-middle-income countries.