India still far behind in the Global Hunger Index

[Shabaz Sharif]

The level of hunger remains at ‘alarming levels’, says report

India has moved from 65 to 63 in the Global Hunger Index, making a marginal improvement since 2012, but continues to languish far behind other emerging economies. The score for the country improved slightly from 22.9 in 2012 to 21.3 this year. As has been the trend, within SAARC countries too, India continued to trail behind Pakistan and Bangladesh on the index.

The index is prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute along with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

The level of hunger in India remained at ‘alarming levels’, the report read, noting that it is one of the three countries outside Sub-saharan Africa to fall in this category. The other two are Haiti and Timor-Leste.

Under-nutrition in children

The report noted that India continued to record one of the highest prevalence of children under five who are underweight, at more than 40 per cent – one of the three criteria that the index is built on.

The report said South Asia continued to have the maximum number of hungry people in the world, followed by sub-Saharan Africa.

“Social inequality and the low nutritional, educational, and social status of women are major causes of child under-nutrition in this [South Asian] region,” the report said.

Other emerging economies doing better

In comparison to India, other emerging economies with high growth trajectories have done a much better job at pulling people out of hunger, the report showed.

China improved its ranking by 57.69 per cent between 1990-2012, while India showed a 34 per cent improvement in the same period.

Brazil, in comparison, had a much better score to begin with and by 2012 entered the select block of nations doing the best to fight hunger.

Countries that have achieved the highest progress on this front included Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Ghana, Thailand and Vietnam – all achieving more than 55% increase in their GHI score.

India still far behind in the Global Hunger Index - The Hindu

Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal are better off then India.

 

[Gibbs]

Cannot be happy with any south Asian country in this regard

 

[Shabaz Sharif]

Cannot be happy with any south Asian country in this regard

But only India is comparable to African countries.

"That puts it in the category where the hunger index is between 20 and 29.9. Others in this category are Ethiopia, Sudan, Congo, Chad, Niger, and other African countries."

 

[kurup]

We need to work more .

PS : Only a low life can put a LOL smiley on the sufferings of other people . OP , go and get a life .

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

China is in the green, that is not bad at all.

 

[Shabaz Sharif]

We need to work more .

PS : Only a low life can put a LOL smiley on the sufferings of other people . OP , go and get a life .

That smiley was for PDF hindu banyas, who cant stop remind us how great supo powa India is compared to other south asian countries.

 

[Gibbs]

But only India is comparable to African countries.

"That puts it in the category where the hunger index is between 20 and 29.9. Others in this category are Ethiopia, Sudan, Congo, Chad, Niger, and other African countries."

That said.. None cant be happy with others been worst off.. Mate.. Especially the rest is not doing so great either.. Even Lanka that leads the region by a margin still have some "serious hunger issues" to deal with

 

[India_rocks]

India should learn from China, they have huge population and they are at rank-6 whereas India is 63rd..

Pakistan and Bangladesh at 57th and 58th position are not safe either, but still considerably better than India.

Changes will come slowly..

 

[Shabaz Sharif]

That said.. None cant be happy with others been worst off.. Mate.. Especially the rest is not doing so great either.. Even Lanka that leads the region by a margin still have some "serious hunger issues" to deal with

No doubt about it, the difference is while we know our short comings but for hindu banyas they are already supo powa.

 

[kurup]

That smiley was for PDF hindu banyas, who cant stop remind us how great supo powa India is compared to other south asian countries.

The term super power is mostly used by pakistanis and chinese and not Indians .

 

[Gibbs]

That smiley was for PDF hindu banyas, who cant stop remind us how great supo powa India is compared to other south asian countries.

But then that falls us in to that same insular petty category as them no ? ..Better to discuss how our countries can make it better for ourselves.. Let them brag on about their delusions

 

[Sergi]

@OP : I am glad that the news make you happy. Finally you find something in Pakistan better than india. Good reason to be happy. May your god bless you with the delightful meal for laughing on the unfortunates.
@Topic : there are some areas of particular states which really need to work up on the problem and GOI should effectively help them. Lets see what food security bill can do.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

The term super power is mostly used by pakistanis and chinese and not Indians .

Not true, the Chinese leadership has never used the word superpower for China. The term they use as a goal for China is "middle-income country".

China's official goal is to become a developed country. That's it.



Now... This is what was said by India's favourite President:


India to become superpower by 2012: Kalam - Economic Times

Former Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam today lauded ISRO's scientists for successfully launching the PSLV-C9 to put 10 satellites in orbit.

Besides, the Chandrayaan-I unmanned moon mission by the year end would add another feather in the country's space programme, Kalam, here to participate in a school function, said.

India has become very advanced in space technology, he said, adding the country would become a superpower by 2012.

"Though I have envisioned India to become a superpower by 2020, the attitude and the confidence of the youth, to conquer everything in the right spirit, would make the country a global leader and super power within five years," Kalam told reporters.

 

[Shabaz Sharif]

@OP : I am glad that the news make you happy. Finally you find something in Pakistan better than india. Good reason to be happy. May your good bless you with the delightful meal for laughing on the unfortunates.
@Topic : there are some areas of particular states which really need to work up on the problem and GOI should effectively help them. Lets see what food security bill can do.

Finally find something better then India? As far as quality of life for average citizen is concerned Pakistan has been better then Bharat for decades. Despite us starting from 0 unlike India.

The term super power is mostly used by pakistanis and chinese and not Indians .

Dont play dumb, this report will be forgotten in couple of days and then usual supa powa rants will start by Indians.

 

[Hafizzz]

India’s hunger situation alarming, says report
India

New Delhi, Oct. 14:

Hunger is decreasing globally, but the largest number of people going hungry is in South Asia, with the situation in India ‘alarming’ despite it having made some progress.

Overall, the hunger situation in 19 out 120 countries is alarming or seriously alarming, says a report released on Monday by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI) has fallen by 34 per cent from the 1990 score, but South Asia has the highest regional score of 20.7, followed by Africa (south of the Sahara) while Burundi, Eritrea and Comoros have the highest levels of hunger, says the report.

The report, which calls for building coping mechanisms to boost food and nutrition security, terms the situation in India as alarming, even as its hunger score improved from 32.6 in 1990 to 24 in 2005 and 21.3 in 2013. Pakistan has a score of 19.3, Bangladesh 19.4 and China 5.5.

It says South Asia’s record of reducing hunger has been uneven, as the region reduced its score markedly between 1990 and 1995, but the decrease slowed down, despite strong economic growth.

India, which recently passed a food security law, and Timor-Leste have the highest prevalence of underweight in children under five — more than 40 per cent in both countries. The report cites social inequality and low nutritional, educational, and social status of women as the major causes of child under-nutrition in South Asia.

“2.6 billion people have to live on less than two dollars a day. For them a sick family member, a single drought or the job loss of someone working abroad is a major crisis…. These people have simply no coping mechanisms left to react to a crisis,” said Welthungerhilfe’s Chairlady Bärbel Dieckmann.

Pointing out that the developing world is more vulnerable to shocks and stress from extreme weather events, macroeconomic crises, poor governance and conflicts, among others, the report calls for policy focus on building people’s resilience.

It suggests silos between the relief and development communities to be broken down and developing high-frequency surveillance systems for the most vulnerable regions, focusing on community as well as individual and household resilience, i.e. their capacity to absorb shocks.

Among the countries that achieved noteworthy progress in improving their GHI scores are Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, with decreases in their scores ranging between 15 and 23 points.

The index identified hunger levels and hot spots across 120 developing countries and countries in transition, and ranked countries on three equally weighted indicators - the proportion of undernourished people, the proportion of underweight children under five, and the mortality rate of children under five.