On October 16, 2020, Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe released the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020 report in which India ranked 94th among 107 countries with a score of 27.2. Although there is improvement in a score as compared to 38.9 in 2000, 37.5 in 2006, and 29.3 in 2012 but still it represent a serious level of hunger.
- In 2019, India was ranked 102 out of 117 countries and in 2018 it was ranked 103 among 119 countries.
- It is to be noted that 17 countries have scores of less than 5 and are collectively ranked 1-17.
Global Front:
As per the report the worldwide hunger is at “moderate” level but there are nearly 690 million people across the world who are undernourished.
— 144 million children suffer from stunting, (low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition).
— 47 million children suffer from wasting (low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition).
–In 2018, 5.3 million children died before the age of 5 years.
— Africa South of the Sahara and South Asia have the highest hunger and undernutrition levels among world regions.
–Approximately 37 countries will fail even to reach low hunger, as defined by the GHI Severity Scale, by 2030 amid COVID-19.
Indian Front:
–South Asia has the highest child wasting rate for any region, and India is the low performer at 17.3% in the period of 2015-19 as compared to 15.1% in 2010-14.
–India also fares low in stunting but improved from 54% in 2000 to less than 35% now.
–14% of India’s population is undernourished.
–India ranks lower than most of its South Asian neighbours – Pakistan (88), Nepal (73), Bangladesh (75), Sri Lanka (64) and Myanmar (78).
Improvements:
–India has improved in child mortality rates, which are now at 3.7%.
Click Here for Official Report
About Global Hunger Index (GHI):
The GHI is a tool designed to measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and national levels to make a reasonable assessment. Data from the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral agencies are used for the calculation GHI on the basis of 4 Indicators which are:
- Share of the population that is undernourished
- Share of children under the age of five who are wasted.
- Share of children under the age of five who are stunted
- The mortality rate of children under the age of five
A score of less than 9.9 signifies “low” hunger, that of 10-19.9 represents “moderate” levels of hunger, 20-34.9 points to “serious” hunger, 35-39.9 signifies “alarming” and over 50 “extremely alarming” levels of hunger.
Recent Related News:
i.On September 17, 2020, Institute for Management Development (IMD), in collaboration with Singapore University forTechnology and Design (SUTD), IMD World Competitiveness Center, and Smart Cities Observatory (SCO) has released he 2nd edition of global listing of smart cities i.e. “Smart City Index (SCI) 2020” in which the ranking of four Indian cities- New Delhi, Mumbai (Maharashtra), Hyderabad (Telangana), and Bengaluru (Karnataka) were declined as the technological advancement in these cities is not up to date to cater the COVID19 Pandemic.
ii.India took the 105th position in the 24th Edition of Economic Freedom of the World: 2020 Annual Report byCanada’s Fraser Institute, which has been released in India in conjunction with Center for Civil Society, New Delhi- based think tank.
About Welthungerhilfe:
Patron– Frank-Walter Steinmeier (President of Germany)
President– Marlehn Thieme
Headquarter– Bonn, Germany
About Concern Worldwide:
Headquarter– Dublin, Ireland
