World Hunger Report 2010 Calls India Situation "Alarming"

[RiazHaq]

In a week that saw India put on the Commonwealth Games extravaganza costing $7.5 billion, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) released its World Hunger Index 2010 report calling India's hunger situation "alarming".

India ranks 67, far worse than Pakistan's ranking of 52 among 84 nations on the world hunger index 2010 report published recently, according to a Times of India report.

On a scale ranging from low level hunger to extremely alarming, the hunger situation in Sri Lanka and Pakistan is rated as serious, and the rest of South Asia, including India, the situation is considered alarming.

At 9th place, China is ranked well ahead of all South Asian nations, while Pakistan is at the 52nd place on the 2010 Global Hunger Index, released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in association with a German group Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

In India, the high Index scores are driven by high levels of child underweight resulting from the low nutritional and social status of women in the country, the report pointed out, adding that India alone accounts for the largest share of the world's undernourished children, the IFPRI report said.

India is home to 42% of the world's underweight children, while Pakistan has just 5%, it added.

Among other neighboring countries, Sri Lanka was at the 39th position and Nepal ranked 56 by index. Bangladesh listed at the 68th position.

After 63 years of independence, it is very unfortunate that economically resurgent India still remains home to the world's largest population of poor, hungry and illiterate people. Tragically, hunger remains India's biggest problem, with an estimated 7000 Indians dying of hunger every single day. Over 200 million Indians will go to bed hungry tonight, as they do every night, according to Bhookh.com. Along with chronic hunger, deep poverty and high illiteracy also continue to blight the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians on a daily basis.

As the largest nation in the region, it is time for Indian leadership to take necessary actions to lead South Asia by example in reducing poverty, hunger and illiteracy toward achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

http://www.riazhaq.com/2010/10/india-tops-world-hunger-chart-in-2010.html

 

[RiazHaq]

India leads Commonwealth tally in underweight children

India may rank second in the medals tally, but it is on top of the heap among the Commonwealth countries as the home to the highest number of underweight children.

About 43% of India's children are underweight, and 7 million under fives are severely malnourished, says a new report "Commonwealth or Common Hunger", released by Save the Children, a child rights NGO.

The report reveals that 64% of the world's underweight children live in 54 Commonwealth countries, and India has both the highest number and the highest proportion of underweight children. More than two-thirds of stunted children (88.5 million or 68.6%) and nearly half of those who are underweight (95 million or 48.7%) live in just seven Commonwealth countries.

India is one of seven Commonwealth countries that are not showing adequate progress on MDG 1. India has achieved just 0.9% progress, which is nowhere near achieving the target by 2015. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Kenya are the other nations that are lagging behind in MDGs.

Commenting on the report, noted agriculture scientist and chairperson of the Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India, M S Swaminathan, said,"India has a vast burden of malnutrition among children and mothers, and the Prime Minister has called it a national shame. We now need to see urgent action that will deliver real change in the lives of mothers and their children in India. But I hope that we will see changes that can be shared with other countries across the Commonwealth."

Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children, said, "By hosting the Commonwealth Games against all odds, India has shown that with political will, it can overcome problems and find solutions. With 55 million children under five being underweight, we need to show similar leadership to finding a solution to the silent epidemic that is quietly wiping out generations of our children."

The critical period when malnutrition can have the most irrevocable impact is during the 33 months from conception to a child's second birthday, says the report. After this period, it is much harder to reverse the effects of chronic malnutrition, and the effects are life-long or life-threatening.

In 2000, 198 countries, including India, had committed to halving hunger and malnutrition by 2015. Sri Lanka, Ghana and Botswana are among the Commonwealth countries that are on course to meeting the target by 2015 through several low-cost interventions to reduce malnutrition.

For instance, support for exclusive breastfeeding is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions and could reduce under five mortality by as much as 20%.


Read more: India leads Commonwealth tally in underweight children - The Times of India India leads Commonwealth tally in underweight children - The Times of India

 

[CardSharp]

It can't be the money so why are these kids starving.

 

[StingRoy]

There is a large disparity between the living standards of Indian middle class and the lower economically deprived people. Since there is a significant percentage of people living less than $2 a day, it is there where the statistics of hunger are alarming. Apart from that, many people are ignorant about the importance of a balanced diet, they just eat to fill their stomach. This could factor in under nourishment as well.

 

[CardSharp]

There is a large disparity between the living standards of Indian middle class and the lower economically deprived people. Since there is a significant percentage of people living less than $2 a day, it is there where the statistics of hunger are alarming. Apart from that, many people are ignorant about the importance of a balanced diet, they just eat to fill their stomach. This could factor in under nourishment as well.

I find the latter reason more convincing. I can't imagine that the government doesn't subsidize enough for everyone to have enough money to eat.

 

[StingRoy]

Govt subsidizes rice, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, etc but no vegetables or meat. Thats the reason why most people live on a lot of carbs, but no good nutrient. Recently the vegetable prices have shot up due to inflation putting these essential nutrient sources out of reach from their daily diet. Traditionally farmers want to grow crops which have a higher shelf life as well which protects them from the losses incurred from transportation to the market. Hence the vegetable growers have to find a quick local market to cater to and the margins are not much.

The govt needs to improve its policy around cold storage houses and efficient transportation which would minimize losses for these farmers and they would be encouraged not to jump into using their farmlands for grain crops.

 

[third eye]

The problem is food distribution & storage.

In India there is no shortage of funds or food only endemic corruption & improper storage.

 

[JamesBond]

The issue is not where we are. The issue is are we improving on that? Are we better today than we what were yesterday?

Anyways, the newly launched UID project 'Adhaar' can bring a sea change into all of this if implemented properly which I'm confident it will be because a really sensible guy called Nandan Nilekani is incharge of the project.

 

[CardSharp]

Govt subsidizes rice, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, etc but no vegetables or meat. Thats the reason why most people live on a lot of carbs, but no good nutrient. Recently the vegetable prices have shot up due to inflation putting these essential nutrient sources out of reach from their daily diet. Traditionally farmers want to grow crops which have a higher shelf life as well which protects them from the losses incurred from transportation to the market. Hence the vegetable growers have to find a quick local market to cater to and the margins are not much.

The govt needs to improve its policy around cold storage houses and efficient transportation which would minimize losses for these farmers and they would be encouraged not to jump into using their farmlands for grain crops.

Being vegetarian probably doesn't help. As much as I admire the moral fortitude of vegetarians, humans are just not meant eat only veggies. The amount of work you have to put in to balancing a vegetarian diet is about 3x the effort needed to balance a diet with meat.

Farming gave us civilization but it hasn't made us healthier. It's been proven that Hunter gathers had a much better diet than we do now and it's likely that our bodies are still adapted to eating a hunter gatherer diet.

 

[Brotherhood]

I find the latter reason more convincing. I can't imagine that the government doesn't subsidize enough for everyone to have enough money to eat.

May be this could explain some of your doubt;

The World Bank estimates that one third of all the very poorest people in the world live in India, and stories like those from Ganne have now inspired a national Right To Food campaign.

There have been protest rallies in the heart of Delhi, as the Indian parliament prepares to debate a new Food Security Bill. It will dictate how many people in the country get access to massively subsidised food grain.

There's no doubt that India should be able to afford to feed its people. But the devil is in the detail.

"It'll only cost the government about 1.2% of GDP to universalize a system of giving food for all, cheap food for all," says Kavitha Srivastava, the national coordinator of the Right to Food campaign.

"They can do it, if they have the political will. It's prioritising - where do you want to put the money?"

"We think it should go in building people's nutrition levels. You can't have a country which is weak, which is hungry, which is anaemic. How can you have a nation like this?"

Now the government seems to be prepared to accept a new way of defining poverty, which will increase the number of people below the poverty line by more than 100 million to about 372 million.

If you simply throw money at this problem...you'll have to throw four times the amount to get the result you want. And the government of India can't afford that.

Dr Kaushik Basu
Finance ministry economic advisor

If international poverty standards were used, the number would be much higher still - and some Indian economists believe it should be.

But whichever figure is used, the poverty line feels like a rather fictitious divide because feeding more than a billion people is a massive logistical exercise. Vast quantities of food provided by the state go missing every day because of corruption and theft.

"Food ought to be a right," says Dr Kaushik Basu, the Chief Economic Advisor at India's Ministry of Finance. "And I believe this is a movement in the correct direction."

"But what worries me at times is that we're being too glib and quick about the delivery mechanism."

Official estimates are that right across the country 75% of subsidised grain does not make it to the intended target in villages like Ganne.

"So if you simply throw money at this problem, you'll have to throw four times the amount to get the result you want," says Dr Basu. "And the government of India can't afford that. The budget will go bust."

In other words, the delivery system needs to be reformed as well - and corrupt local officials need to be taken to task. There is a long way to go.
BBC News - Diet of mud and despair in Indian village

 

[CardSharp]

^^^^

Kid's stunted during key times of growth because politicians think it'll be too hard. Take 1% out of their swiss bank accounts and they can save a generation of children.

 

[Novice09]

Govt subsidizes rice, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, etc but no vegetables or meat. Thats the reason why most people live on a lot of carbs, but no good nutrient. Recently the vegetable prices have shot up due to inflation putting these essential nutrient sources out of reach from their daily diet. Traditionally farmers want to grow crops which have a higher shelf life as well which protects them from the losses incurred from transportation to the market. Hence the vegetable growers have to find a quick local market to cater to and the margins are not much.

The govt needs to improve its policy around cold storage houses and efficient transportation which would minimize losses for these farmers and they would be encouraged not to jump into using their farmlands for grain crops.

Really appreciated both of your posts which highlights two more reasons for this problem.

One more reason which I know is lack education and knowledge.

I've also seen several men (especially poor/labor) who can spend Rs. 50-100 on their liquor but they don't spend that money to provide food to their family.

I've seen several families who cannot afford a single child but have 5 to 6 children.

I feel that all these issues which are not addressed (by our government and people) are expanding this problem.

 

[StingRoy]

Being vegetarian probably doesn't help. As much as I admire the moral fortitude of vegetarians, humans are just not meant eat only veggies. The amount of work you have to put in to balancing a vegetarian diet is about 3x the effort needed to balance a diet with meat.

Agree... but you cant force people to convert from vegetarians to meat eaters... it is their personal choice and religious belief. But meat is almost 10x more expensive compared to similar quantities of veggies in India, so the solution is not there.

The only solution is for the govt to provide enough infrastructure to store and transport perishable food items.

 

[CardSharp]

Agree... but you cant force people to convert from vegetarians to meat eaters... it is their personal choice and religious belief. But meat is almost 10x more expensive compared to similar quantities of veggies in India, so the solution is not there.

The only solution is for the govt to provide enough infrastructure to store and transport perishable food items.

No of course not, but I'd almost guarantee you that under-weight problem will go away when you start adding animal protein. Again, it's a sign of the unequal world we live in where one half spends billions and billions on pills, diets, gimmicks to lose weight while the other half cannot take in the required amount of calories to sustain health.

 

[below_freezing]

No of course not, but I'd almost guarantee you that under-weight problem will go away when you start adding animal protein. Again, it's a sign of the unequal world we live in where one half spends billions and billions on pills, diets, gimmicks to lose weight while the other half cannot take in the required amount of calories to sustain health.

animal protein is also horrendously inefficient. in ancient times (up to 1900!), 99% of the people ate meat about once a year.

indians should start eating tofu. it is pure protein.