Hunger haunts Shining India
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COMMENTS 
The high economic growth in India, unlike in China, has not translated to a rapid reduction of hunger, says a US-based policy think-tank. India ranks 67th in an 84-country ranking, and has more hungry people than even Sudan
India is among 29 countries with the highest levels of hunger, stunted children, and poorly fed women, according to the recently released International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) ‘Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2010’. The report by the Washington-based think-tank exposes widespread hunger in a country that is the world’s largest producer of milk and edible oils, and the second largest producer of wheat and sugar.
Despite a strong economy that was last week predicted to overtake China’s within three years, by The Economist magazine, India ranked 67th among 85 countries in terms of access to food. The country has a high “hunger score” of 24.1 and ranks behind all its neighbours, barring Bangladesh. Values between 20 and 29.9 on the index denote an “alarming” hunger situation.
“Higher growth rate in India has not been translated into hunger reduction,” IFPRI Asia Director Ashok Gulati said after the report’s release. India is among countries with “hunger levels considerably higher that their gross national income per capita would suggest… It’s kind of ironic,” he added.
The high incidence of hunger is despite India having enough foodgrain, indicating a failure in reaching the deprived or abject low levels of incomes for a vast segment of population. China’s economy, which is four times bigger than India’s, has made remarkable progress in reducing hunger. As a result, the country ranks ninth in the index, the report said.
India also runs the world’s largest free-meal programme for school-going children. Yet, the 2010 hunger report reveals that more than 90% of the world’s stunted children (children who are short for their age) live in Asian countries like India and Bangladesh, apart from some Africa countries.
The highest regional hunger indices -- suggesting the worst performers -- are almost the same for South Asian countries such as India and sub-Saharan African nations such as Congo.
The IFPRI hunger index is calculated for 122 developing and transition countries in partnership with the German NGO Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. Countries are ranked on three equally weighted indicators: proportion of undernourished, proportion of underweight children under 5, and child mortality rate.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines hunger as the consumption of fewer than 1,800 kilocalories a day -- the minimum required to live a healthy and productive life.
Globally, the world is nowhere near meeting the target of the UN’s goal of halving the proportion of hungry people. Child malnutrition is the biggest cause of hunger worldwide, accounting for almost half of those affected.
Despite the number of undernourished people in the world falling between 1990 and 2006, the report’s authors say the number has crept up in recent years, with data from 2009 showing more than 1 billion hungry people. The most recent figures from 2010 suggest the number may again be falling, but this data is not yet complete.
Twenty-nine countries -- mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia -- have levels of hunger described as “extremely alarming” or “alarming”. Eight of the nine countries in which the hunger index went up between 1990 and 2010 were in sub-Saharan Africa. The ninth was North Korea. The Democratic Republic of Congo saw the biggest increase; GHI rose by more than 65%.
The report says the global food price crisis and worldwide recession have contributed to the recent rise. Children under the age of 2 are considered to be most at risk. Malnourishment at this stage harms physical and mental development and its effects are mostly irreversible, causing life-long damage.
Marie Ruel, director of the poverty, health, and nutrition division at IFPRI says the 1,000 days of life “from conception to two years” go a long way in setting a child’s health, education, and productivity patterns.
Pointing out that hunger mitigation programmes that failed to focus on children under 2 helped land India in the “alarming” hunger index despite its relatively high gross domestic product per capita. Ruel added: “In order to improve the hunger index, countries will have to accelerate progress in child nutrition.”
The report finds that many developing countries, primarily in South Asia and Latin America, have made significant progress in reducing hunger. But continued improvement in the rates of hunger -- and in addressing the development problems that result from hunger -- depends on a universal focus on early childhood nutrition.
Tom Arnold, CEO of Concern Worldwide, noted that if a child is not properly nourished for the 1,000 days of life, there is “absolutely cast-iron, empirical proof” it will have profound long-term consequences. “That is ultimately going to have an impact on a country’s capacity to grow economically and socially in the future,” he added.
For more details on Global Hunger Index, visit: http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1p89k/
Source: The Economic Times, October 12, 2010
Hindustan Times, October 12, 2010
http://www.csmonitor.com, October 12, 2010
AFP, October 12, 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk, October 2010