Alarming Levels of hunger In India-A Comparison

Despite years of robust economic growth, India scores lower than nearly 25 sub-Saharan countries in the Global Hunger Index

India, the world’s largest foodgrain producer, also has the world’s largest hungry population -- over 200 million. It ranks a poor 66th among 88 developing and transitional countries in the 2008 Global Hunger Index (GHI-2008), says a report released by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), ahead of World Food Day (October 16).

Among the 17 major Indian states, Madhya Pradesh had the most severe hunger levels, followed by Jharkhand and Bihar. Even states that experienced good economic growth like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh had high levels of hunger.

Hunger levels ranged from ‘serious’ to ‘extremely alarming’, with 12 states in the ‘alarming’ category. Not one state witnessed ‘low hunger’ or ‘moderate hunger’. Even relatively prosperous Punjab, and other states like Kerala, Haryana and Assam now fall within the ‘serious’ bracket.

“Hunger and malnutrition are often rooted in poverty. Part of the solution rests with increasing investments in agriculture and poverty-reduction programmes,” says Ashok Gulati, IFPRI director in Asia.

When compared to other countries on the index, Madhya Pradesh ranked 81st, level with Chad; Punjab was 33rd, below Gabon, Honduras and Vietnam. Maharashtra and Orissa ranked 66th, equivalent to India, while Gujarat ranked 69th, with Haiti. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were 60th, with Guinea.

In South Asia, countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan fared better than India in their drive against hunger. Even countries like Laos, Cambodia and Burkina Faso ranked higher than India. India’s slightly better performance over Bangladesh was because of higher agricultural productivity. But it fared worse than Bangladesh in the area of child mortality.

The Democratic Republic of Congo scored the worst on the index, followed by Eritrea, Burundi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ethiopia. Among the better-fed countries, Mauritius ranked 1st, followed by Jamaica, Moldova, Cuba and Peru. China ranked 15th, Thailand 23rd, Sri Lanka 39th, Nepal 57th and Pakistan 61st.