Global Hunger Index

As per 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India ranks 100 out 119 countries.
The Global Hunger Index is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and national levels. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) calculates GHI scores each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger.
To capture the multidimensional nature of hunger, GHI scores are based on four indicators as follows:

1. Undernourishment: the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient);
2. Child wasting: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute under-nutrition);
3. Child stunting: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic under-nutrition); and
4. Child mortality: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (in part, a reflection of the mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).
Government of India has accorded high priority to address the issue of hunger and malnutrition by implementing several schemes/ programmes to improve food security situation in the country. The reason for such poor ranking is more on account of comparative performance of other economies.
For tackling the problem of hunger in the country and to improve the position in GHI, Government has implemented following interventions:
• Provision of food grains at highly subsidized prices to the targeted population through State Governments/ UT Administrations under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in terms of Nation Food Security Act, 2013 and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) such as Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, Annapurna Scheme etc.
• National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 provides for coverage of up to 70% of the rural and up to 50% of the urban population thus covering about two-third of the population, for receiving food grains at highly subsidized prices of Rs.3, 2 and 1 per Kg. for rice, wheat and coarse grain respectively under TPDS.The Act also has a special focus on nutritional support to women and children.
• Recently National Nutrition Mission has been approved under MWCD for addressing malnutrition status of the country in a comprehensive manner.
The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Sh Ashwini Kumar Choubey stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

Countries with extremely alarming (GHI ≥ 50), or alarming
		Global Hunger Index^[13]
Rank	Country	1992	2000	2008	2017^[27]
119	Central African Republic	52.2	50.9	47.0	50.9
118	Chad	62.5	51.9	50.9	43.5
117	Sierra Leone	57.2	54.7	44.5	38.5
116	Madagascar	43.9	43.6	36.8	38.3
115	Zambia	48.5	52.3	45.0	38.2
114	Yemen	43.5	43.4	36.2	36.1
113	Sudan	-	-	-	35.5
112	Liberia	51.2	48.2	38.9	35.3

Countries with serious (GHI between 34.9 and 20) hunger situation
Rank	Country	1992	2000	2008	2017
111	Niger	62.2	52.6	37.0	34.5
110	Timor-Leste	-	-	46.8	34.3
109	Haiti	51.6	42.7	42.6	34.2
108	Zimbabwe	35.8	40.9	34.5	33.8
107	Afghanistan	50.2	52.7	37.9	33.3
106	Pakistan	42.7	38.2	34.7	32.6
105	Angola	65.8	57.5	39.7	32.5
104	Ethiopia	-	56	40.2	32.3
87	Uganda	41.2	39.2	33.3	32
100	Djibouti	60.3	46.7	35.1	31.4
100	India	46.2	38.2	35.6	31.4
91	Rwanda	53.3	56.3	36.2	31.4
99	Guinea-Bissau	44.5	43.1	31.4	30.6
98	Mozambique	63.6	48.7	37.5	30.5
97	Tanzania	42.9	42.4	33	28.8
96	Tajikistan	-	41.8	32.6	28.7
94	Guinea	46.5	44	33.4	28.6
94	Mali	51.4	44.2	35.1	28.6
93	North Korea	31.9	40.3	30.7	28.2
92	Burkina Faso	47	47.9	36.4	27.6
91	Laos PDR	52.3	48.1	33.4	27.5
89	Malawi	58.2	44.6	31.5	27.2
90	Bangladesh	53.6	37.6	32.2	26.5
86	Côte d'Ivoire	32.9	32.6	35.1	26.5
87	Namibia	35.4	30.8	30.9	25.7
88	Congo	39.1	36	31.6	25.6
84	Nigeria	48.8	41	33.7	25.5
85	Sri Lanka	31.6	26.8	24.2	25.5
77	Mauritania	39.4	33.6	23.7	25.2
82	Benin	44.5	37.5	31.7	24.4
81	Botswana	33.8	33	30.7	24.4
79	Lesotho	26.5	33.2	28.4	24.1
70	Gambia	35.2	27.5	23.8	23.2
76	Iraq	21.8	26.5	25.7	22.9
75	Myanmar	55.6	43.6	30.1	22.6
78	Togo	45.8	39	28.3	22.5
71	Cambodia	45.8	43.6	27.1	22.2
80	Cameroon	40	39.6	29.5	22.1
74	Indonesia	35	25.5	28.3	22
72	Nepal	42.5	36.8	28.9	22
83	Swaziland	24	29.9	30.7	21.2
73	Kenya	39.1	37.6	29.6	21
69	Guatemala	28.5	27.4	22.2	20.7

The Global Hunger Index is composed of the proportion of the undernourished as a percentage of the population, the prevalence of underweight children under the age of five and the mortality rate of children under the age of five (calculated average, in percentages).

The 2017 GHI score could not be calculated for Bahrain, Bhutan, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria, because of a lack of data.