This Is the Only Country in the World That Can Feed Itself

What if tomorrow, every country had to survive on only what it could grow, raise, or catch within its borders? No imports, no exports. Just you, the soil beneath your feet, and whatever seeds and wildlife exist within your reach. If you think major agricultural powerhouses like the United States or China are some of the only, if not the only, countries that could feed themselves, you’re wrong. The only country that can do it is Guyana.

According to a new study in Nature Food and reported by Science Alert, the tiny forest nation of Guyana, which has a population of under 1 million, is the only country that can self-sufficiently produce all seven key food groups. Those include grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, lagoons, and fats. China was not very far behind, and neither was Vietnam, as each could self-sufficiently produce six out of the seven, but every other country on Earth would be screwed in this hypothetical situation.

Out of 186 countries studied by researchers from the University of Göttingen and the University of Edinburgh, only about 14 percent can cover at least five food groups on their own. More than a third can’t even hit three. And six countries—including the UAE, Yemen, and Afghanistan—can’t cover a single category.

Things don’t improve much when multiple countries join forces to form economic unions to share resources. The Middle East’s Gulf Cooperation Council can feed itself meat, but not much else. West Africa and the Caribbean unions each manage only two groups.

That brings us to the whole point of this study. As the Trump administration tries to make the United States just a little bit more like North Korea in its isolation from the international community in a misguided effort to become more self-sustaining, the researchers wanted to find out if there were even any countries on Earth currently doing that.

It turns out that there was one, and only one. The reason the South American nation of Guyana can do it is because it’s small and produces and consumes within its means.

Most countries make up the deficit by trading with other nations. That’s fine until one of those trade links is broken because, say, oh, I don’t know, maybe a poorly thought-out trade war is sparked for no discernible reason.

At the same time, several nations depend on a single partner for over half their food imports, which, geopolitically speaking, could be putting all of your metaphorical and maybe even literal eggs in one basket. One major geopolitical dustup, and all of a sudden, your nation’s supply of pork runs dry.

According to lead author Jonas Stehl, diversification and cooperation are the keys to a modern nation’s food supply sustainability. Make as much of what you need as you can on your own, while also being sure not to piss off your international trading partners with, say, oh I don’t know, maybe a series of tariffs that don’t have a clear endgame, to maintain a constant flow of the other stuff.