Relative Assessment of Iran's Food Security Situation in the Mena Region (Consolidated Approach Analytical Hierarchy Process and Entropy)

Given continuous increase in population and growth of living standards, requires to food products is increasing with tremendous speed. Importance of providing sufficient food from one hand, and emphasis on Iran's regional position in the country's Vision 1404, from the other hand, has encouraged policy makers and planners to improve food security index. However, before any planning and policy making, recognizing Iran's current situation in terms of the multiple dimensions of food insecurity is very important. So, in the present study, Iran's position in the MENA region over the period 2013- 2000 is assessed, using a Consolidated multi-criteria decision approach and entropy technique. To this end, at the first, the weight of the different criteria was calculated through entropy method, then ranking of the countries was done using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. The results show that Iran is in fourteenth place among 21 countries of the MENA region in terms of food security. Results also indicate the positive correlation between food security and per capita GDP, trade liberalization, and the mechanization of agriculture, but negative correlation between food security and population as well as inequality in income distribution. So, it is suggested that government operate in order to improve food security index by removing trade barrier and eliminating sanctions, promoting mechanization in agricultural sector, and giving more consideration to the living situation of the low income groups.