Global Hunger Index 2024

News: The government informed the Lok Sabha that the measure of hunger used in the Global Hunger Report 2024 Index is flawed and does not reflect India’s true position.

About Global Hunger Index

1. The Global Hunger Index is a tool designed to measure and track hunger levels across the world.

2. GHI is released by Concern Worldwide and Welthhungerhilfe annually.

3. The theme of the Global Hunger Index 2024 is “How gender justice can advance climate resilience and zero hunger”.

4. It captures the multidimensional nature of hunger by combining the following four indicators using a formula:

• Undernourishment: It measures the proportion of population whose caloric intake is insufficient.
• Child stunting: It is the share of children under the age of five who have low height for age, indicating chronic malnutrition.
• Child wasting: It is the share of children under the age of five who have low weight for their height, indicating acute malnutrition.
• Child mortality: It measures the mortality rate of children under five years old, often because of malnutrition and unhealthy environments.

5. The index scores countries on a 100-point scale, where 0 means no hunger, and higher numbers indicate more severe hunger problems.

Key findings of the Global Hunger Index 2024

1. India is ranked 105th among 127 countries, with a score of 27.3, reflecting a serious level of hunger. India displays a particularly high rate of child wasting (18.7 percent).

2. In the South Asian region, India’s neighbours like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka fall into the moderate level of hunger.

3. The report draws links between gender inequality, climate change and hunger. It highlights that women and children are usually hardest hit by food insecurity and malnutrition.

4. Factors like climate change, armed conflicts, economic downturns, high food prices, debt crisis in many low- and middle-income countries pose significant challenges in attaining the SDG Goal 2 of Zero Hunger.