The assessment tool, created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), focuses on prices and supply of national food baskets at the country level, and at the project level focuses on on a collection of indicators on key environmental and socio-economic aspects of agriculture linked to food security.
6 August 2012: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a new publication as part of its Bioenergy and Food Security Criteria and Indicators Project (BEFSCI), as part of the FAO efforts to better understand when bioenergy has positive or negative effects on food security.
The publication, “Impacts of Bioenergy on Food Security: Guidance for Assessment and Response at National and Project Levels,” includes sections on assessing impacts at the national level, and an operator-level food security assessment tool. At the national level, the assessment tool focuses on the indicator of price and supply of a national food basket. At the project level the tool examines how an existing or planned agricultural operation comprises a number of indicators to address key environmental and socio-economic aspects of agriculture operations linked to food security. The final chapter identifies a range of responses to address impacts at the national and project level. In examining the sustainability of bioenergy investments, the report notes the important role played by the time horizon of the activity, and the scale where impacts may be felt. [Publication: Impacts of Bioenergy on Food Security: Guidance for Assessment and Response at National and Project Levels]