Global Hunger Index 2023

Why in news?

• India ranked 111th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2023.

About Global Hunger Index

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
• GHI scores are based on the values of four component indicators:
  • Undernourishment (the share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient)
  • Child stunting (the share of children under the age of five who have low height for their age)
  • Child wasting (the share of children under the age of five who have low weight for their height)
  • Child mortality (the share of children who die before their fifth birthday)
• The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger - zero is the best score (implies no hunger)and 100 is the worst.
• The GHI is prepared by European NGOs of Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
• It is an annual report and each set of GHI scores uses data from a 5-year period.
• In this report, “hunger” refers to the index based on the four component indicators (undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality). Taken together, the component indicators reflect deficiencies in calories as well as in micronutrients.

Highlights of GHI 2023

• The 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that, after many years of advancement up to 2015, progress against hunger worldwide remains largely at a standstill. The 2023 GHI score for the world is 18.3, considered moderate and less than one point below the world’s 2015 GHI score of 19.1.
• Furthermore, since 2017, the prevalence of undernourishment, one of the indicators used in the calculation of GHI scores, has been on the rise, and the number of undernourished people has climbed from 572 million to about 735 million.
• The GHI said the compounding impacts of climate change, conflicts, economic shocks, the global pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war have exacerbated social and economic inequalities and slowed or reversed previous progress in reducing hunger in many countries.

GHI 2023 and India

• In the index released, India has a score of 28.7, indicating a serious level of hunger. The country came after neighbouring countries Pakistan (102nd), Bangladesh (81st), Nepal (69th) and Sri Lanka (60th).
• While the rate of undernourishment in India stood at 16.6 percent and under-five mortality at 3.1 percent, the prevalence of anaemia in women aged between 15 and 24 years stood at 58.1 percent.
• As per the index, India also has the highest child wasting rate in the world at 18.7 percent, reflecting acute undernutrition.
• India ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the 2022 edition of the Global Hunger Index (GHI).

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Which of the following is/are indicator(s) to compute Global Hunger Index?

1. Undernourishment
2. Child Stunting
3. Child Mortality

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer