The climate crisis is driving alarming levels of hunger in the world, undermining food security in the world’s most vulnerable regions, according to this year’s global Hunger index.
The annual report, a ranking of 117 countries measuring hunger rates and trends, shows progress since 2000 but warns that the world still has a long way to go to reach the zero hunger target agreed by world leaders by 2030.
The findings show levels of hunger are “serious” or “alarming” in 47 countries and “extremely alarming” in one: the Central African Republic.
India has been classified as a country with ‘serious’ levels of hunger according to this year’s Global Hunger Index (GHI), slipping from 95th rank in 2010 to 102nd in 2019.
Countries like Nepal (73rd), Sri Lanka (66th), Bangladesh (88th), Myanmar (69th) and Pakistan (94th), although all in the ‘serious’ hunger category are better at feeding its citizens than India, according to this index.
China (25th) has moved to a ‘low’ severity category and Sri Lanka is in the ‘moderate’ severity.
Data is lacking for several countries – Burundi, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Libya, Papua New Guinea, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.
The authors acknowledge an overall global decline in poverty and increased funding for nutrition but argue that current action and spending will not meet the global sustainable development goals or World Health Assembly nutrition targets.
