India slips to 102 in Global Hunger Index

NEW DELHI: India has been ranked 102 in the recently released Global Hunger Index report which features a total of 117 countries, slipping 6 positions since the previous report. India has been ranked the lowest amongst all South Asian countries and the report has warned that the progress towards the predetermined ‘Zero Hunger by 2030’ is ‘under threat’.

The index was topped by the Central African Republic, which was dubbed as having an “extremely alarming” level in the hunger index. Chad, Madagascar, Yemen, and Zambia displayed an ‘alarming level’ while nine other countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria) were omitted due to lack of data. 43 countries have ‘serious’ levels of hunger.

The report said that it was becoming difficult to feed the world due to climate change. As per the report, the gains are now being treated and severe hunger persists in many regions worldwide, although there has been progress in reducing hunger to an extent.

Collen Kelly, CEO, Concern Worldwide US said, “Hunger stubbornly persists in many countries and is actually increasing in others. Many countries have higher hunger levels now as compared to 2010, and approximately 45 countries are set to fail to achieve low levels of hunger by 2030.”

The compiling body also made a few recommendations to the various countries in question to improve the situation. Bringing resilience on a priority among the most vulnerable groups, improving disaster response mechanisms, addressing inequalities, mitigation measures for climate change, are some of the measures suggested in the report.