New Delhi: A joint report by the Irish agency, Concern Worldwide, and a German organization, Welt Hunger Hilfe, found India slipping from 94th to rank 101st among 116 countries listed in a Global Hunger Index 2021 (GHI) after a study conducted between 2012 and 2021.
Describing it as alarming for India, the report showed a relatively better position in neighboring countries like Pakistan (92), Bangladesh (76), Nepal (76), and Myanmar (71), although they too fall under the alarming hunger category.
They calculated the Global Hunger Index on factors like undernourishment, child wasting (children too thin for their height), child stunting (children too short for their age), and child mortality.
However, the report noted that India has progressed in terms of lesser child mortality rates, stunting, and undernourishment of children under 5 years of age. About the rise of child wasting in India to 17.3% in 2016-20, it said India has the highest child wasting rate worldwide.
“Although GHI scores show that global hunger is declining since 2000, progress is slow. While the score for the world fell 4.7 points, from 25.1 to 20.4 between 2006 and 2012, it has fallen just 2.5 points since 2012. This shift may be a harbinger of reversals in other measures of hunger.”
“After decades of decline, the global prevalence of undernourishment is increasing while food security is under assault on multiple fronts. Worsening conflict, weather extremes because of climate change, and the economic and health challenges associated with Covid-19 are all driving hunger,” it added.
Only 15 countries, namely Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Congo, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Yemen, and Somalia rank after India in the GHI, respectively.
(Avya Mathur)