Global Hunger Index

Global Hunger Index

According to the latest Global Hunger Index data, hunger levels in developing countries may have fallen 29% since 2000, but India is still rated as a country with ‘serious’ hunger levels in the 2016.

• The report is released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
• The hunger index ranks countries based on undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting (low weight for height) and child stunting (low height for age).
• The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger), and 100 is the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice.  

Highlights of the report:

• It ranked India 97 among 118 countries, faring worse than all its neighbours China (29), Nepal (72), Myanmar (75), Sri Lanka (84) and Bangladesh (90), except for Pakistan (107) in measures of hunger.
• The report found that one in three children in India has stunted growth, whereas 15% of the country’s population are undernourished. India’s score is 28.5.
• Hunger levels are “alarming” in seven countries, with Central African Republic (CAR), Chad and Zambia experiencing the worst levels. Nearly half the population in CAR and Zambia and one in three people in Chad, are undernourished.
• The report also said that another 43 countries, including India, Nigeria and Indonesia, have “serious” hunger levels.
• At the current rate of decline, more than 45 countries – including India, Pakistan, Haiti, Yemen, and Afghanistan – will have “moderate” to “alarming” hunger scores in the year 2030.
• Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest hunger levels, followed closely by South Asia.