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Abstract
The topic of food security has gained significant attention and importance due to its
impact on political, economic, and humanitarian decisions governments make. Although
composite indexes that measure food security have proliferated in the last decade, many
questions regarding their methodologies remain unanswered. Among several composite
indexes that aim to measure food security, the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) stands out
for its solid methodology and reliable data sources. However, its weighting scheme can be
categorized as biased. This paper attempts to overcome the issue of subjectively assigned
weights to indicators and categories within the GFSI. Namely, we propose a statistical
methodology, the Composite I-distance Indicator (CIDI), which is based on the I-distance
method, for obtaining an unbiased weighting scheme. Our approach can serve as a
foundation for future research on weighting schemes, which are enveloped with subjectivity.