The US, Denmark, France and the Netherlands are the most food secure countries in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU’s) Global Food Security Index (GFSI) released on Tuesday.

The index, developed by the EIU and sponsored by DuPont, deepens the dialogue on food security by examining the core issues of food affordability, availability, and quality across a set of 105 developed and developing countries worldwide.

It found that the food supply in advanced countries averaged 1 200 calories more per person a day than in low-income economies.

Several sub-Saharan African countries that finished in the bottom third of the index, including Mozambique, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Niger, will be among the world's faster growing economies during the next two years.

Several policy- and nutrition-related indicators, including access to farmer financing, the presence of food safety net programmes, protein quality and diet diversification, are highly correlated with overall food security.

China experienced the least volatility in agricultural production during the last 20 years, with three North African countries – Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria – among those experiencing the most volatility.

South Africa is ranked 40th out of 105 countries.