Sub-Saharan African nations have made good progress in improving food secur-ity in the last 12 months, with the top three most improved sub-Saharan countries – Ethiopia, Botswana and Niger – climbing an average eight places in the 2013 Global Food Security Index.

This came as the average index score, which measured overall food security, remained flat for the year at 53.5% versus 53.6% in 2012.

The index, which was commissioned by Du Pont and released this month, attributed the improvements in Southern Africa largely to greater food availability, urbanisation and income growth among the emerging middle class.

But despite the improvement in Southern Africa, the affordability of food in Africa as a whole remained a greater challenge than the availability or quality of food.

The Economist Intelligence Unit- (EIU-) developed ranking tool is used to compre-hensively measure food security and monitor the ongoing impact of agriculture invest- ments, collaborations and policies in 107 countries – 28 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa emerged as the highest-rated sub-Saharan African country, with an overall ranking of 39 out of 107.

The country’s strengths included higher nutritional standards, a relatively low propor-tion of population under the global poverty line and a relatively high sufficiency of supply of food.

In contrast, the country’s challenges included a low per capita gross domestic product (GDP), low public expenditure on agricultural research and development and minimal food safety net programmes.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone ranked at the top of this year’s new urban absorption capacity indicator, which measured the capacity of a country to support the food requirements of its growing cities.

Real GDP in the country grew nearly four times faster than urbanisation in the last three years, suggesting that it may have the resources to support new urban populations through developments such as urban farming.

While food security in Southern African showed year-on-year gains, the index’s most food insecure countries were also found on the African continent.

The Democratic Republic of Congo ranked last out of 107 countries for food affordability, quality and safety and ranked 103 out of 107 countries for avail- ability.

“As we collectively focus on helping Africa feed itself, the index’s data provides a roadmap for nongovernmental organisations, policy-makers, academics and community leaders to identify critical food security issues and make better-informed decisions that address country-specific needs,” DuPont Pioneer director for Africa Pamela Chitenhe said during a teleconference.

Meanwhile, political conflict reduced food security in Mali, Yemen and Syria over the year, with these three countries recording some of the biggest declines in the index, dropping by 14, 7 and 7 places respectively.

Violent conflict not only reduced political stability in these States, but also impacted GDP growth, road infrastructure and access to potable water, and curbed the ability of the formal grocery sectors to provide food.

In other developed countries, contracting national incomes dented food security, with Greece recording the steepest fall among developed nations, dropping six places.

Although observing a reduction in the average income per person in developed economies, which consequently reduced food security in these countries, the index noted that they remained, for the most part, in the top 20% of the index and were thus not in “serious” danger of food insecurity.