India ranks worse than Pakistan,Sri Lanka in hunger index, ranks 107 out of 121 countries

India lags behind its neighbours in the Global Hunger Index prepared for 121 countries of the world. In the Hunger Index, India has been ranked 107th, followed by Sri Lanka (64th), Nepal (81st), Bangladesh (84th) and Pakistan (99th). Afghanistan (109) is the only country in South Asia that is worse than India in the index. Last year, India was ranked 101st out of 116 countries. In fact, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) measures and tracks hunger conditions at the global, regional and national levels every year. It is calculated on the basis of four indicators, namely malnutrition, severe malnutrition among children (children under 5 years of age who are underweight for height), stunting of children (children who weigh less for their age) and child mortality

The GHI score is measured on a 100-point scale that displays the severity of hunger. Zero is considered to be the best score i.e. there is no starvation situation and 100 means bad condition. India’s score (29.1) has come in the severe category. China is among the countries whose rankings have come between 1 and 17 and the score is less than five

India’s position
India’s child wasting rate (underweight by height) is 19.3 per cent, which is worse than what it was in 2014 (15.1 per cent) and in 2000 (17.15 per cent). It’s the highest in the world. The proportion of the population with inadequate calories has also increased from 14.6 per cent in 2018-2020 to 16.3 per cent in 2019-2021. Accordingly, out of the total 828 million under-nourished population globally, India has 224 million people.

However, India’s performance has improved in the remaining two indicators. Child stunting has come down from 38.7 per cent in 2014 to 35.5 per cent in 2022. The child mortality rate has also declined from 4.6 per cent to 3.3 per cent in the period. Overall, india’s position has worsened due to the increase in GHI score (28.2 in 2014 and 29.1 in 2022)

Globally, the GHI score for 2022 has been in the moderate category. It improved slightly from 19.1 in 2014 to 18.2 in 2022. Recently, the world has faced situations like the Corona epidemic, economic crisis, climate change and the Ukraine war. This will increase the prices of food, fuel and fertilizers globally and in such a situation, the situation of 2023 is going to be worse