India ranks 94 among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2020, the report released recently. As per the report, 14% of India’s population is undernourished. In the GHI for 2020, India ranks below neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal which are placed at 88th, 75th, and 73rd position respectively. Countries such as North Korea, Rwanda, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone are worse off than India.
According to the report, with a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is “serious”. India’s rank was 102 out of 117 countries last year. The Global Hunger Index comprehensively tracks and measures hunger across the world and the report was released to mark the World Food Day. It further says that the prevalence of wasting among children under 5 in India is ‘very high’. GHI states that India, with 17.3 per cent, has the most wasted (low weight for their height) children out of the nations assessed.
In the index, India features behind Nepal (73), Pakistan (88), Bangladesh (75), Indonesia (70) among others. Out of the total 107 countries, only 13 countries fare worse than India including countries like Rwanda (97), Nigeria (98), Afghanistan (99), Liberia (102), Mozambique (103), Chad (107) among others. India also recorded a child stunting rate of 37.4%, but marked a reduction in the under-five mortality rates in the country. The country also registered a higher number of child mortality due to prematurity and low birth weight.
“Data from 1991 through 2014 for Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan showed that stunting is concentrated among children from households facing multiple forms of deprivation, including poor dietary diversity, low levels of maternal education, and household poverty,” said the report.
“In many countries the situation is improving too slowly, while in others it is worsening. For 46 countries in the moderate, serious, or alarming categories, GHI scores have improved since 2012, but for 14 countries in those categories, GHI scores show that hunger and undernutrition have worsened. The latest GHI projections show that 37 countries will fail to achieve even low hunger by 2030,” the report said.
According to its web site, the GHI scores are calculated every year to evaluate progress and setbacks in combating starvation. It is calculated on the idea of 4 indicators — undernourishment, youngster losing, the share of kids underneath the age of 5 who’re wasted (that’s, who’ve low weight for his or her peak, reflecting acute undernutrition); youngster stunting, kids underneath the age of 5 who’ve low peak for his or her age, reflecting persistent undernutrition; and youngster mortality, the mortality price of kids underneath the age of 5.
