Launch event: New FAOSTAT data domain on food and diet

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations organized a special event to launch a new data domain on food and diet on FAOSTAT, the world’s largest portal on food and agriculture statistics.

The food and diet domain is the first centralized location for the sharing of statistics on all forms of dietary related data. It is the result of a collaborative effort from three FAO divisions (the Food and Nutrition Division, the Statistics Division and the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division) to address dietary data gaps and support effective evidence-based policies.

As per its Constitution, FAO is responsible for collecting, analyzing, interpreting and disseminating information related to food, nutrition and agriculture, as well as raising levels of nutrition and ensuring access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food for all. As a result, the Organization is committed to provide the most up-to-date, reliable, harmonized and policy-relevant statistics and indicators on food supply, food consumption and diet quality.

Available in English, French and Spanish, the new domain provides energy, macro- and micro-nutrient statistics from: (a) FAO supply utilization accounts (SUA) data, for 186 countries from 2010; (b) 38 household consumption and expenditure surveys (HCES) conducted in 30 countries between 2010 and 2021; and (c) nationally representative individual quantitative dietary data from five countries. Additionally, the domain provides statistics related to the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) indicator from 10 surveys conducted in nine countries. It will be steadily updated and expanded as new data become available and are processed.

During the virtual event, panelists from FAO showcased the newly released data domain and its main features. A panel discussion, with a question-and-answer session, followed with partner organizations sharing insights on the importance of data to inform evidence-based policies to achieve Zero Hunger.

Speakers:

• José Rosero Moncayo, Chief Statistician, Director of the Statistics Division, FAO
• Lynnette Neufeld, Director of the Food and Nutrition Division, FAO
• Bridget Holmes, Nutrition & Food Systems Officer, Food and Nutrition Division, FAO
• Gero Carletto, World Bank
• Sandra Crispim, Federal University of Parana, Brazil
• Louise Ander, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

The presentation can be downloaded here, while the video recording can be accessed here (Passcode: q6.7R##6).