Valiant Odhiambo is a recent graduate from the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. He completed his Master of Agricultural Science degree in Agricultural Economics under the supervision of Prof. Sheryl Hendriks and Dr Eness P Mutsvangwa-Sammie. The research that he conducted for his Masters formed part of the recently published paper, “The effect of an objective weighting of the Global Food Security Index's natural resources and resilience component on country scores and ranking” which was published in Food Security. We sat down to ask him some questions about his research and his studying experience.

Q: Can you please explain your research to us?

The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) is used to measure food insecurity in countries across the globe. The index has several components of which one of them is the natural resources and resilience (NRR) component, which looks at the risk that climate has on food security. Using components such as this one helps determine the level of food insecurity of a country, which in turn influences policy choices. The different indicators have different weightings that contribute to the overall score, and currently, the NRR score is subjective. The study, therefore, seeks to understand how much of a difference it will make to the overall score of the GFSI if the NRR component had an objective weighting. The study concluded that subjective weighting of the NRR component of the GFSI may still provide relatively fair country scores and ranks. However, an objective weighting of the NRR component could improve the reliability of the NRR component of the GFSI and build greater trust.

Q: What inspired your research?

The Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development offers Food Security & Nutrition Policy Analysis and Measuring & Evaluating Food Security modules. These two modules develop the practical skills for identifying, selecting, presenting, and analysing food security indicators for policy analysis. I learned that policymakers seek a working guide to improving their targeting and monitoring efforts for food security. I trained in a globally recognised international standard for multisectoral analysis and classification of acute food security crises – the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC). Prof. Sheryl introduced the GFSI as a helpful tool for policymakers to discuss agriculture and food security issues. The GFSI had helped shape the dialogue on food security by identifying factors that drive food security, determining country strengths and weaknesses and highlighting areas of action, policy needs and other food system gaps. My attention was drawn to the methodology of the GFSI, particularly the weighting process for indicators leading to the mentioned research topic.

My inspiration to conduct this research stemmed from the fact that the natural resources and resilience component of the GFSI was still new to many researchers. No study of this nature had been published since the inclusion of the NRR component of the GFSI in 2017. A review of the related literature showed that weighting methods could significantly affect the results of composite indicators in the benchmarking process. I argued that using actual data to derive the indicator weights, scores and ranks may motivate governments to invest in data collection, management and publication for access by the EIU expert. f data distribution changes, the objective weights will reflect a new level of importance of indicators and new scores and ranks of countries. The EIU panel of experts may use the findings of this study as a guide to improving the design of the efforts for food security.

Q: How did you find the process of writing this publication, as compared to writing your thesis?

Writing a dissertation involved an extensive review of the related literature compared to a journal article. However, converting the well-written dissertation into a journal article was more straightforward and time saving given the journal's author guidelines. I took just a night to prepare the manuscript. The other two contributors, Prof. Sheryl and Dr Eness, were very helpful and supportive. I would not hesitate to work with them in other publications.

Q: What was the best and worst part of your Masters?

The best experience was that the diverse cultural backgrounds and tremendous insight at the University of Pretoria helped me develop the global mindset needed to impact Africa and beyond. The Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development is committed to fostering broad research skills, and the lecturers and supervisors are experts in their field. I gained relevant research experience, including statistical techniques, data collection and data analysis.

The worst experience was that the Covid-19 pandemic prevented physical meeting with my supervisor. I also missed my home country, Kenya and my family.

Q: Are you passionate about food security? How important do you think it is for people to consider this type of research?

Absolutely! Food security is life. Without food security, there is no life on earth.

I think it is of great significance for people to consider this type of research. To this end, the concept of food security is important in designing, implementing, and evaluating humanitarian and development programs. The use of composite indicators has continued to rise, especially in measuring food security at the national level. However, the determination of an appropriate weighting method is a significant problem in creating composite indices. An evidence-based understanding of a country's progress in improving food security may help countries identify the areas that need intervention.

Q: What are you doing now and what are your future career goals?

I have recently completed a UN Food Systems Summit 2021 Scientific Group paper, "The True Cost and True Price of Food". I am currently working on another manuscript entitled, "The effect of outdated data on South Africa's 2020 Global Food Security Index score and rank".

I am also looking forward to registering for a PhD in Agricultural Economics at the University of Pretoria. My research focus is on sustainable food systems and food security. My career objective is to be a well-rounded agricultural economist concerned with applying management and economic principles to solve practical problems in the food and agricultural sector in Africa and beyond and thus food security, increase in income and poverty alleviation.

We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for Valiant and wish him the best of luck!