Worried about food supply? Climate change and coronavirus mean you should be – but which country ranks as the safest to live and invest?
A new report looks at the impact of climate crisis and coronavirus on food supply and suggests where the best places to live and invest are for decades to come
As if real estate investors did not have enough unknowns to contend with in the current environment, another issue – food security – has landed on their plates.
According to global research by Savills, access to food has emerged as one of the top three climate-change risks leading investor strategies, alongside the threat of flood and wild fire.
The firm explains that, ultimately, with real estate being determined by the location of people, and those people dependent on being able to access food, examining food security will become a crucial part of real estate investment and development activity.
Emily Norton, head of Savills Rural Research team, believes this new concern is directly correlated to the pandemic.
“The Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated the fragility of food distribution supply chains in many countries around the world, but as the climate crisis accelerates, supply networks will face much more persistent problems,” says Norton. “In the long term, development locations will be increasingly limited to where populations can safely and securely access food supplies.”
On that premise, Savills has analysed and ranked 38 countries around the world on four pillars of food security – availability, access, stability and utilisation – and published the results in its first Global Food Security Index.
The findings show that food security varies widely around the world, with large differences in performance even within the most secure regions of Europe and North America. But if you happen to live in New Zealand, yours is deemed to be the most food-secure country overall.
After New Zealand, countries rounding out the top 10 (in numerical order) are Denmark, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany, US, France and Japan. The highest-ranking locations in Asia are Singapore (13th), Republic of Korea (16th) and China (18th).
Ryan Geddes, managing director of Savills New Zealand, says a global reputation as a trusted food producer gives his country a distinct advantage to leverage this trend.
“New Zealand has always been known for being clean, green and uncrowded, with the ability for food to be grown in an unpolluted environment,” he said. “Further, government restrictions around farming, including emissions from animals and run-offs to waterways, ensure every industry is sustainable.”