9 December 2020
Food Systems Dashboard Supports Diet and Nutrition Policy Efforts
Photo Credit: Alex Hudson on Unsplash
story highlights

This interactive tool that allows users to compare and analyze over 150 indicators that measure components, drivers, and outcomes of food systems at the country level.

Data on environmental factors, including water quality, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions, is expected to be added to the dashboard in January 2021.

The Food Systems Dashboard is an interactive tool that allows users to compare and analyze over 150 indicators of food systems at the country level. It aims to support policymakers, researchers, and civil society to examine variables that determine the availability, value, and health consequences of food resources globally.

The Dashboard was developed by the Johns Hopkins University and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), with collaborators at Harvard University, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), and the Agriculture-Nutrition Community of Practice. 

Data on environmental factors will be added in January 2021.

Most of the data in the Dashboard is open source. It is pooled from FAO, Euromonitor International, the World Bank, and other data sources. 

A “Compare and Analyze” feature allows users to explore indicators organized according to six clusters: food supply chains; food environments; individual factors; consumer behavior; diets and nutrition; and drivers. The Dashboard provides for visualizations and comparisons globally, regionally, and by country, food systems type, or income classification. The Dashboard also includes 41 indicators for each country to provide in-depth insights into the challenges and opportunities facing countries and their food systems.

The Food Systems Dashboard aims to provide a complete view of food systems, with indicators related to natural resources, climate, agriculture, policy, commerce, and culture. It shows the types of foods that constitute the average diet, where foods are sold, and the effects of climate change, urbanization, and migration, among other factors.

The Dashboard, which was launched in June 2020, is automatically updated as governments release new information. Data on environmental factors, including water quality, land use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is expected to be added to the dashboard in January 2021. [JHU story about ‘Data to Improve Global Diets’] [Introduction to Dashboard in Nature]

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