Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023

October 13, 2023

India has been placed 111th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023. This ranking has been challenged by the Indian government, which labeled it as “erroneous” and driven by “malafide intent”. In 2022, India stood 107th out of 121 countries in the GHI.

Comparative Analysis

With a score of 28.7, India’s hunger situation is categorized as serious. Countries in the vicinity like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka rank better at 102nd, 81st, 69th, and 60th respectively. However, India’s score is slightly better than that of South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara, both of which have scores of 27.

Key Data Points

India’s undernourishment rate: 16.6%
Under-five mortality: 3.1%
Anaemia prevalence among women (age 15-24): 58.1%
Child wasting rate (indicative of acute undernutrition): 18.7%, the highest globally

Government’s Take

The Indian government questions the credibility of the GHI, emphasizing that it is not an accurate representation of hunger in the country. The Women and Child Development Ministry identified concerns, pointing out that:

The methodology of the index has issues and indicates “malafide intent”.
Three of the four parameters concern children’s health, which can’t speak for the entire population.
The significant metric of the ‘Proportion of Undernourished population’ relies on a limited opinion poll of only 3,000 individuals.

Furthermore, according to the Poshan Tracker’s data, child wasting has consistently remained below 7.2%, contrasting with the GHI’s 18.7%.

The ministry also highlighted that stunting and wasting result from a mix of factors, not just hunger. The linkage between child mortality (another indicator) and hunger is also deemed to lack evidence.

Global Hunger Trends

The 2023 GHI showcases a concerning stagnation in hunger reduction efforts. While there were considerable strides up to 2015, the world’s GHI score in 2023 is 18.3, just marginally below 2015’s score of 19.1.

Notably, since 2017, the number of undernourished individuals globally has surged from 572 million to approximately 735 million.

This halt in progress is attributed to challenges like climate change, global conflicts, economic shocks, the ongoing pandemic, and geopolitical events such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These adversities have intensified social and economic disparities, derailing many nations’ efforts in hunger reduction.

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