Astana, Kazakhstan – The Islamic Organisation for Food Security (IOFS) participated in the webinar “Bridging the Data Gaps on SDG 2 Indicators: Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in OIC Countries”, co-organized by SESRIC in cooperation with FAO, UNICEF, WHO, and IsDB.
During the session on “Global and Regional Perspectives”, Dr. Memduh Unal, Director of IOFS Programs Department, highlighted the critical data challenges faced by the 57 OIC Member States in producing reliable, comparable and timely SDG 2 indicators on hunger, malnutrition, food loss and waste, and sustainable agriculture.
IOFS then unveiled two flagship digital initiatives specifically designed to address these gaps:
1. IOFS Database Application – A free, open-access, web-based platform tailored for OIC countries. The platform integrates data from FAO, NASA GIM, World Bank, WFP and other authoritative sources and currently offers four interactive modules directly relevant to SDG 2: Food Nutrition, Climate Change, Humanitarian Crisis Watch and Food Prices Additional modules (Food Balance Sheets, Pests, Intragovernmental Stocks, etc.) are under active development.
2. OIC-Specific Indices developed by IOFS:
- IOFS Food Nutrition Index – A tayyib-based, culturally sensitive index that cleans non-tayyib items, normalizes scores exclusively among OIC countries, and classifies performance into three clear categories (weak, moderate, strong) for easier interpretation and policy use.
- IOFS Food Loss Index – A product-level, production-adjusted framework that eliminates extreme global distortions and enables meaningful cross-country and year-to-year comparisons within the OIC region.
Both tools are fully operational, free of charge for all OIC Member States and partners, and ready for immediate use by National Statistical Offices and line ministries.
IOFS reaffirmed its commitment to provide hands-on training, integrate national data sources into the platform, and further customize these tools in collaboration with Member States and custodian agencies (FAO, UNICEF, WHO).
