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Abstract
In this paper, the determination of the relative vulnerability of selected Caribbean states
to changes in their food security status because of the incidence of tropical storms and
hurricanes required the aggregation of a composite indicator of the stability of food security
and a risk indicator. Linear aggregation was utilized to derive the composite indicator of
the stability of food security and this approach and Pareto ranking were used to aggregate
this composite indicator and the risk indicator (Annual Frequency of Hurricanes and
Storms) to assess relative vulnerability.
The most vulnerable states were the small island developing states (SIDS): St Kitts and
Nevis, St Lucia, Dominica, Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda, supporting the position that
SIDS are in a most precarious position. The least vulnerable states were Belize, Trinidad
and Tobago and Jamaica. Pareto rankings and linear aggregation produced similar relative
vulnerability orderings. However, Pareto rankings had the advantage of imposing fewer
restrictions, such as the continuity and linearity of aggregation functions and they were able
to show graphically that several countries may have the same relative vulnerability status
because of the impact of different vulnerability factors, a situation that is lost in the
numerical values of linear aggregation.