Global Hunger Index – India slips 3 positions to 100th among 119 nations

India has ranked at 100^th position among 119 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2017. This year’s ranking marks a drop of three positions as compared to 97^th rank in Global Hunger Index 2016.

About Global Hunger Index:

Global Hunger Index is a multidimensional measure that describes the state of hunger situation on regional, national and global level.

• First published in 2006, it is prepared annually by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
• On Global Hunger Index, countries are ranked on a 100-point scale. (0 being the best score indicating no hunger and 100 being the worst).
• Scores of countries are based on its performance on four component indicators – Proportion of the undernourished as a percentage of the population, proportion of children under the age of five suffering from wasting (lower weight in relation to height), proportion of children under the age of five suffering from stunting (lower height in relation to age) and mortality rate of children under the age of five.

Highlights of Global Hunger Index 2017:

India’s GHI 2017 score of 31.4 , it becomes at the high end of the “serious” hunger problem category.

• The report outlines that more than 20% of Indian children under the age of five have lower weight in relation to their height and about 33% are too short in relation to their age.
• Among Asian countries India’s score is the third worst, only better than Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even countries like Iraq, North Korea and Bangladesh have better scores than India.
• The report also cited that despite of India being world’s second largest food producer it has second highest under-nourished population in the world.
• K. Joshi, IFPRI’s South Asia Director stated that drought and structural deficiencies have left a large number of poor in India at risk of malnourishment in 2017 despite of national nutrition-focused programs launched by the Government.
• As per the report, Central African Republic has the worst score and is the only country having “extremely alarming” hunger levels, whereas Chad, Sierra, Leone, Madagascar, Zambia, Yemen, Sudan, and Liberia are the countries that are suffering from “alarming” hunger levels.
• Chile, Cuba and Turkey have a GHI score of less than 5 and have ranked as the best nations on the index.