Share of dietary energy from cereals, roots, and tubers

Calculation

Calculated as the food supply in kilocalories per person per day from cereals and starchy roots divided by the total kilocalories per person per day.

Definition

Proportion of dietary energy available in a country's food supply that is derived from cereals, roots, and tubers (often referred to as staple foods). This indicator is based on national-level data from FAO's Food Balance Sheets as a 3-year average. The complement of this indicator, share of dietary energy from non-staples, is also often cited.

Relevance

Countries with lower shares of dietary energy from staple foods may have higher nutritional quality in their food supplies. As non-staple foods--which are typically more nutrient-dense than cereals, roots and tubers--increase in availability, country-level food supplies are more capable of meeting population-level nutrient needs. However, this does not consider the distribution of these foods to population sub-groups, including nutritionally vulnerable groups whose needs may be higher, or low-income groups who may have difficulty affording non-staple foods.