GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX AND INDIA HUNGER INDEX: THE WORLD-SYSTEM

October 14, 2008 at 10:46 pm | Posted in Asia, Development, Economics, Financial, Globalization, History, India, Research, Third World, World-system | Leave a comment

India below sub-Saharan Africa in hunger index

15 Oct 2008

The International Food Policy Research Institute

(IFPRI)’s 2008 Global Hunger Index

The Global Hunger Index was developed by IFPRI in

2006 as a comprehensive measure of hunger and

malnutrition

The India Hunger Index released along with the

Global Hunger Index October 2008

Professor Amartya Sen of Harvard has taught courses on “hunger in the modern world” for two decades.

The domestic “savage inequality” arguments of Jonathan Kozol, Senator Edwards, et al, must be analyzed on a global basis.

NEW DELHI:

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)’s 2008 Global Hunger Index

Despite robust economic growth in recent years, India’s record on hunger is worse than that of nearly 25 sub-Saharan African countries and all of South Asia, except Bangladesh. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)’s 2008 Global Hunger Index says that with over 200 million people insecure about their daily bread, Indian scenario is ‘alarming’ in terms of hunger and malnutrition.

The first ever India Hunger Index, released along with the Global Hunger Index on Monday, found that not a single state in India fell in the ‘low hunger’ or ‘moderate hunger’ categories. Madhya Pradesh had the most severe level of hunger in the country, followed by Jharkhand and Bihar. Punjab and Kerala scored the best on the Index.

The Index measured hunger by ranking countries on three indicators, prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient. Overall, India ranks 66 among 88 countries in the index.

When Indian states are stacked against countries in the 2008 Global Hunger Index, Madhya Pradesh ranks between Ethiopia and Chad. Punjab, the best-performing state, ranks below Gabon, Honduras, and Vietnam. India’s high levels of child malnutrition and calorie insufficiency are the primary reasons for its poor performance. India’s rates of child malnutrition are higher than most countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

However, the report points out that global poverty rate has fallen over three points to 15.2 points in 2008 hunger index from 18.7 points in 1990 index — due to progress in children’s nutrition.

According to IFPRI, the current financial crisis will complicate the picture. “It actually brings some short-term relief for hungry people as it contributes to reduced commodity prices. But the credit crunch makes access to capital difficult, including for agriculture, and that adds another obstacle for overcoming the food crisis,” the institute said.

“Hunger and malnutrition are often rooted in poverty,” IFPRI director in Asia Ashok Gulati said. “Part of the solution rests with increasing investments in agriculture and poverty reduction programs.” The Global Hunger Index was developed by IFPRI in 2006 as a comprehensive measure of hunger and malnutrition.