# Development of a composite index for the assessment of food systems in the Philippines

## TL;DR

This paper creates a composite index to assess food systems in the Philippines, revealing regional differences that can guide policy and program development.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is the development of a composite index using local data and PCA for assessing Philippine food systems.

## Key findings

- Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and CAR have higher food system scores than other regions.
- Bicol, Western Visayas, and Davao have relatively low food system scores.
- The index reveals sub-national differences in food system concerns and priorities.

## Abstract

Food system assessment is vital in providing informed decisions for relevant transformations and policy shifts. In the present study, we developed and a composite index that can be utilized to quantitatively assess the status and/or performance of the food systems in the Philippines. Initially, a set of indicators were generated by Delphi approach, and relevant local data were used to develop algorithms to quantitatively operationalize the indicators which were subsequently grouped into domains by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Equal weights were applied to indicators, and the linear additive aggregation technique was employed. The robustness of the model was also tested by uncertainty and sensitivity tests. Finally, the utility of the index was tested to describe the status of food systems in the Philippines at the across regions. Results indicate differences in regional food system scores; Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and CAR have higher scores than the other regions, while Bicol, Western Visayas, and Davao obtained relatively low scores. The sub-national level assessment indicates differences in food system concerns and priority areas across the country, providing implications for context-specific program and policy development.