AMN / WEB DESK
Once again the Global Hunger Index has highlighted grim reality of hunger crisis, child malnutrition in India. India ranked 107th out of 121 assessed countries on the 2022 Global Hunger Index (GHI). With an overall score of 29.1 (see table below to understand the measurement), the level of hunger in India has been categorised as “serious”.
Hunger index measurement:
≤ 9.9 = low
10.0–19.9 = moderate
20.0–34.9 = serious
35.0–49.9 = alarming
≥ 50.0 = extremely alarming
India was ranked 101st out of 116 countries in the GHI 2021 and 94th out of 107 assessed countries in 2020.
The GHI that tracks and measures hunger across the world says that malnutrition among children under five years in India is very high.
The report that has used the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Food Security Indicators as its sources for India has highlighted that child wasting (low-weight-for-height) rate in India, at 19.3 per cent, is the highest of any country in the world. With 35.5 per cent of children below five years stunted (low height for age), India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are among the worst-performing countries.
This has put India off-track regarding the progress needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of “Zero Hunger” (Goal 2) by 2030.
While India’s neighbouring countries are also not in the ‘low hunger’ category, Pakistan (26.1), Nepal (19.1), Bangladesh (19.6), and Sri Lanka (13.6) have secured a relatively better rank than India. Meanwhile, with an overall score below 5, China has remained in the “low hunger” category for the third time in a row.
India rejects Global Hunger Index Report 2022
What is Global Hunger Index
Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report jointly published by Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organisation and Welthungerhlife, a private aid organisation in Germany. GHI is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional and national levels.
GHI aims to assess the progress and setbacks of nations worldwide in combating hunger. GHI looks at the following four factors: Undernourishment, Child Wasting, Child Stunting, and Child Mortality.
According to GHI, “the scores, rankings, and indicator values are comparable only within each year’s report, not between different years’ reports, owing to revisions of the source data and methodology.”