Global Hunger Index

The GHI captures three dimensions of hunger 

• Insufficient availability of food
• Shortfalls in the nutritional status of children and
• Child mortality
• Accordingly, the Index includes the following four equally weighted indicators:
• Countries are ranked on a 100-point scale, with 0 and 100 being the best and worst possible scores, respectively.

Consequences & Implications

• Hunger is one of the world’s major problems and, therefore, one of its most important challenges.
• Hunger and undernourishment form a vicious circle, which is often “passed on” from generation to generation.
• The children of impoverished parents are often born underweight and are less resistant to disease; they grow up under conditions that impair their intellectual capacity for their whole lives.

Factors that contribute to a high global hunger index have been identified as:

• Low income and poverty,
• War and violent conflict,
• General lack of freedom,
• Low women’s status, and
• Poorly targeted and delivered health and nutrition programmes.

Updates

• India ranked 111th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index-2023 with the country reporting the highest child wasting rate at 18.7 per cent.
• India ranked 107th out of 121 countries in 2022.