Pardee RAND Food-Energy-Water Index

The security and availability of food, water, and energy resources are vital to support human development. Lack of quality food can lead to physical impairment which contributes to reduced learning in children and adults as well as a loss of productivity; insufficient clean water can cause devastation and poverty through flood, disease, erosion, and desertification; and access to modern forms of energy is essential for the provision of clean water, sanitation, and healthcare. Each is dependent on the other two in ways that may not be obvious.

Launched in 2016, the interactive Pardee RAND Food-Energy-Water Index allows users to measure of the state of food, water, and energy security at that time and enables analysis of these topics under future scenarios. Researchers are working on an update to the data that will be available in spring 2023.

Those interested in improving development can use the tool to understand the dominant sources of insecurity in a nation and identify cases where many sources of insecurity are interrelated. For those interested in studying how to improve development trajectories, these data can explain why some nations currently enjoy higher levels of human development and others have lower ones.