Global Hunger index

The Global Hunger Index is an annual score ranking countries of the world on hunger levels.
The Index is a peer-reviewed report released annually by Concern Worldwide (a humanitarian agency) and NGO Welthungerhilfe.
It is based on 4 indicators:
- Undernourishment
- Child wasting – the share of children under the age of five who 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
- Child mortality – the mortality rate of children under the age of five.

Overall, India ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index, lower than neighbours such as Bangladesh (75) and Pakistan (88). 2020 scores reflect data from 2015-19.
According to the report, with a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is “serious”. India’s rank was 102 out of 117 countries last year.
India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition.
The situation has worsened in the 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.
Although it is still in the poorest category, however, child stunting has actually improved significantly, from 54% in 2000 to less than 35% now.
Child wasting, on the other hand, has not improved in the last two decades, and is rather worse than it was decades ago.
India has improved in both child mortality rates, which are now at 3.7%, and in terms of undernourishment, with about 14% of the total population which gets an insufficient caloric intake.
In the region of south, east and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and North Korea.
South Asia has the highest child wasting rate for any region, and India is the worst performer.

Globally, nearly 690 million people are undernourished, according to the report, which warns that the COVID-19 pandemic could have affected the progress made on reducing hunger and poverty.
The report noted that the world is not on track to achieve the Goal 2 of Sustainable Development Goal (to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030).
At the current pace, approximately 37 countries will fail even to reach low hunger by 2030. These projections do not account for the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may worsen hunger and undernutrition in the near term and affect countries’ trajectories into the future.

Today Current Affairs Upsc Exam Syllabus & Previous Yearpaper.