India has dropped to the 101st position out of 116 nations in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021, down from 94th place in 2020 and is now behind neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
On Thursday, the website of the Global Hunger Index which measures hunger and malnutrition announced that eighteen countries including China, Brazil and Kuwait shared the top spot with a
GHI score of less than five.
The level of hunger in India is "alarming."
The report is prepared by Concern Worldwide, an Irish charity organisation; and Welt Hunger Hilfe, a German organisation.
India was ranked 94th out of 107 countries in 2020. With 116 countries participating, it has slipped to 101st place. India's GHI score has likewise slowed, dropping from 38.8 in 2000
to a range of 28.8 to 27.5 between 2012 and 2021.
Undernourishment, child wasting (the share of children under the age of five who are wasted, i.e. have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition), child stunting (children
under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), and child mortality are the four indicators used to calculate the GHI score (the mortality rate of children under the age of five).
According to the report, wasting among children in India increased from 17.1 percent in 1998-2002 to 17.3 percent in 2016-2020.
"People in India, the country with the highest child wasting rate in the world, have been adversely impacted by COVID-19 and pandemic-related restrictions," said the report.
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According to the report, neighbouring nations such as Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar (71) and Pakistan (92) are also in the 'alarming' hunger category but have done a better
job of feeding their citizens than India.
Other metrics, such as the under-5 mortality rate, the frequency of stunting among children and the prevalence of undernourishment due to inadequate food, have improved in India, according
to the research.
The battle against hunger, according to the report, is dangerously off track. According to current GHI projections, by 2030, the globe as a whole - and 47 nations in particular - will have
failed to attain a low level of hunger.
Food security is under threat on numerous fronts, according to the report, with growing violence, weather extremes linked to global climate change, and the economic and health problems posed
by the COVID19 pandemic all contributing to hunger.
"Inequality between regions, countries, districts and communities is widespread and if left unchecked, will prevent the world from meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal
of leaving no one behind," according to the research.
Furthermore, the report stated that being optimistic in 2021 will be tough because the forces driving hunger already outnumber good intentions and high ambitions.
Conflict, climate change and COVID-19 are three of the most strong and destructive of these forces, according to the report, and they threaten to wipe out whatever progress made against hunger in recent years.