In the center of a world map, Yemen — a country where 17 million people are food insecure — is colored with the darkest of blues. Across the Red Sea, Eritrea is a pale green. Further north, Jordan is a solid turquoise. And to the west, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Chad are a swath of navy.
But the colors — at least in this visualization — aren’t measuring the food crises raging within each nation’s borders. Instead, they paint a picture of who is funding responses to those crises and how trends in financing have changed over time.
It’s one of several layers of analysis published by the Global Alliance for Food Security, an initiative led by the World Bank and the Group of Seven major economies that aggregates data on food needs, preparedness, and response. GAFS is one of a handful of organizations trying to elevate the use of data for decision-making, especially as the world’s crises multiply.