The report, prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organisation Welt Hunger Hilfe, termed the level of hunger in India 'alarming.
India has fallen down from 94th position to 101st
position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, and is behind
its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Eighteen countries, including China, Brazil, Kuwait, Cuba, Serbia
and Turkey, shared the top rank with GHI score of less than five, the website
of the Global Hunger Index that tracks hunger and malnutrition said on
Thursday.
In 2020, India was ranked 94th out of 107 countries. Now with 116
countries in the fray, it has dropped to 101st rank. India's GHI score has also
decelerated -- from 38.8 in 2000 to the range of 28.8 - 27.5 between 2012 and
2021.
The report, prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide
and German organisation Welt Hunger Hilfe, termed the level of hunger in India
'alarming
The GHI score is calculated on four indicators --undernourishment;
child wasting (the share of children under the age of five who are wasted i.e
who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition); child
stunting (children under the age of five who have low height for their age,
reflecting chronic undernutrition) and child mortality (the mortality rate of
children under the age of five).
The share of wasting among children in India rose from 17.1
percent between 1998-2002 to 17.3 percent between 2016-2020, according to the
report.
"People
have been severely hit by COVID-19 and
by pandemic-related restrictions in India, the country with highest child
wasting rate worldwide," the report said.
Neighbouring countries like Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar
(71) and Pakistan (92) are also in the 'alarming' hunger category but have
fared better at feeding their citizens than India, according to the report.
However, India has shown improvement in other indicators such as
the under-5 mortality rate, prevalence of stunting among children and
prevalence of undernourishment owing to inadequate food, the report said.
According to the report, the fight against hunger is dangerously
off track. Based on the current GHI projections, the world as a whole -- and 47
countries in particular -- will fail to achieve a low level of hunger by 2030.
Food security is under assault on multiple fronts, it said, adding
that worsening conflict, weather extremes associated with global climate
change, and the economic and health challenges associated with the COVID19
pandemic are all driving hunger.
"Inequality -- between regions, countries, districts, and
communities -- is pervasive and, (if) left unchecked, will keep the world from
achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) mandate to leave no one
behind," the report said.
Further, the report noted that it is difficult to be optimistic in
2021 because the forces now driving hunger are overpowering good intentions and
lofty goals.
Among the
most powerful and toxic of these forces are conflict, climate change, and COVID-19 three Cs that threaten to wipe out any
progress that has been made against hunger in recent years, it added.
What is GHI (Global Hunger Index)?
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, and 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.