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Global Hunger Index 2018
Why in the news ?
- India ranks a low 103th out of 119 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) released on 11the October 2018.
- India is at the high end of the “serious” category.
More in the news
- The GHI captures the multidimensional nature of hunger based on four indicators -1) Undernourishment (share of the population with insufficient calorific intake).2) Under-5 child wasting (Low weight for height).3) Under-5 child stunting (low height for age).4) Under-5 child mortality.Findings of the report :
- At least one in five Indian children under the age of five are ‘wasted’.
- Wasting means they have extremely low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
- India’s ranking has dropped three places from last year.
- India has shown improvement in three of the indicators over the comparable reference years.
- The percentage of undernourished people in the population has dropped from 18.2% in 2000 to 14.8% in 2018.
- The child mortality rate has halved from 9.2% to 4.3%.
- Child stunting has dropped from 54.2% to 38.4% over the same period.
Global scenario
- Globally, the level of hunger still falls into the “serious” category, despite improvement over the last two decades.
- The Index projects that at the current rate of progress, 50 countries will fail to reach the “low” hunger category by 2030.
- This puts the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2, which aims to end hunger by 2030, in jeopardy.
Global Hunger Index (GHI)
- The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
- GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger.The GHI is designed to :
- Raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger,
- Provide a way to compare levels of hunger between countries and regions,
- Call attention to those areas of the world where hunger levels are highest and where the need for additional efforts to eliminate hunger is greatest.
- The report is jointly published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Concern Worldwide, and Welthungerhilfe.
Source
The Hindu, Indian Express, ghi.org.