IFPRI Global Hunger Index

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Comparisons of hunger across states: India State Hunger Index
(Report, 2008) Menon, Purnima; Deolalikar, Anil B.; Bhaskar, Anjor
The results of the India State Hunger Index 2008 highlight the continued overall severity of the hunger situation in India, while revealing the variation in hunger across states within India. It is indeed alarming that not a single state in India is either low or moderate in terms of its index score; most states have a “serious” hunger problem, and one state, Madhya Pradesh, has an “extremely alarming” hunger problem. Although variation exists in index scores of the states, and hence in the ranking of Indian states in relation to other countries, few states perform well in relation to the GHI 2008. Even the best-performing Indian state, Punjab, lies below 33 other developing countries ranked by GHI. Even more alarming is the fact that the worst-performing states in India—Bihar, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh—have index scores similar to countries that are precariously positioned on the GHI 2008 rankings. For instance, Bihar and Jharkhand rank lower than Zimbabwe and Haiti, whereas Madhya Pradesh falls between Ethiopia and Chad. Our analysis of the associations between the ISHI 2008 and state economic indicators shows that the relationship between poverty and hunger is largely as expected—greater ISHI 2008 scores are seen in poorer states, with a few exceptions. Outliers like Kerala, Orissa, and Punjab perform better on the ISHI 2008 than might be expected given their poverty levels, whereas Gujarat, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh perform worse. A closer examination of these states’ past and current investments in social protection, health, and nutrition programs can help inform the debate about policy instruments to protect populations against hunger even in the face of poverty. The lack of a clear relationship between state-level economic growth and hunger, taken along with the relationship between the ISHI 2008 and poverty and incomes, has a number of implications. First, economic growth is not necessarily associated with poverty reduction. Additionally, even if equitable economic growth improves food availability and access, it might not lead immediately to improvements in child nutrition and mortality, for which more direct investments are required to enable rapid reductions. Thus, in addition to wide-scale poverty alleviation, direct investments in improving food availability and access for poor households, as well as direct targeted nutrition and health interventions to improve nutrition and mortality outcomes for young children, will be needed to raise the ISHI scores and rankings of Indian states. Child underweight contributes more than either of the other two underlying variables to the GHI score for India and to the ISHI scores for almost all states in India. Tackling child undernutrition, therefore, is crucially important for all states in India. Achieving rapid reductions in child underweight, however, will require scaling up delivery of evidence-based nutrition and health interventions to all women of reproductive age, pregnant and lactating women, and children under the age of two years. Some economically strong states had rankings on the Nutrition Index that deteriorated when compared with the ISHI 2008, suggesting that it might be important for these states to invest in direct nutrition and poverty alleviation interventions even during sustained economic growth. The design and implementation of policies and programs to improve all three underlying dimensions of the ISHI will need to be strengthened and supported to ensure that hunger is reduced rapidly over time. Although strides are being made on the public health front to ensure sustained reductions in child mortality, improvements in child nutrition are not satisfactory in India. Nutrition programs in India are not effectively delivering evidence-based interventions at scale to vulnerable age groups that need to be reached to ensure rapid reductions in undernutrition. In conclusion, for Indian states to progress along the ISHI, and to ensure that ISHI scores for Indian states are more closely aligned with GHI scores of countries with comparable economic growth, investments will be needed to strengthen agriculture, improve overall food availability and access to all population segments, and to improve child nutrition and mortality outcomes.
2009 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger
(Book, 2009) von Grebmer, Klaus; Nestorova, Bella; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Fertziger, Rebecca; Fritschel, Heidi; Pandya-Lorch, Rajul; Yohannes, Yisehac
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that worldwide progress in reducing hunger remains slow. The 2009 global GHI has fallen by only one quarter from the 1990 GHI. Southeast Asia, the Near East and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean have reduced hunger significantly since 1990, but the GHI remains distressingly high in South Asia, which has made progress since 1990, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has been marginal. Some countries achieved noteworthy progress in improving their GHI. Between the 1990 GHI and the 2009 GHI, Kuwait, Tunisia, Fiji, Malaysia, and Turkey had the largest percentage improvements. Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nicaragua, and Vietnam saw the largest absolute improvements in their scores. Nonetheless, 29 countries have levels of hunger that are alarming or extremely alarming. The countries with the highest 2009 GHI scores are Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone. In most of the countries with high GHI scores, war and violent conflict have given rise to widespread poverty and food insecurity. Nearly all of the countries in which the GHI rose since 1990 are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The current food and financial crises, linked in complex ways, will both have implications for food security, financial and economic stability, and political security. The impacts will be greatest on the poor and hungry, and the countries with the highest levels of hunger are also among the most vulnerable to the global downturn. Although the poor and the hungry are in general hurt the most by the food and financial crises, the exact impacts at the household level differ widely. Policy responses to the food and financial crises must take these different impacts into account. Social protection strategies should be designed to mitigate the current shock for the most vulnerable, lay the foundation for sustainable recovery, and prevent negative impacts in the future. Nutrition interventions, such as school feeding programs and programs for early childhood and maternal nutrition, should be strengthened and expanded to ensure universal coverage. An important part of the solution to global hunger is reducing gender inequality. This report compares the 2009 GHI with the 2008 Global Gender Gap Index, which is made up of four subindices: economic participation, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival. The evidence shows that higher levels of hunger are associated with lower literacy rates and access to education for women. High rates of hunger are also linked to health and survival inequalities between men and women. Reducing gender disparities in key areas, particularly in education and health, is thus essential to reduce levels of hunger.
2008 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger
(Book, 2008) von Grebmer, Klaus; Fritschel, Heidi; Nestorova, Bella; Olofinbiyi, Tolulope; Pandya-Lorch, Rajul; Yohannes, Yisehac
The 2008 Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that the world has made slow progress in reducing food insecurity since 1990, with dramatic differences among regions and countries. In the nearly two decades since 1990, some regions - South and Southeast Asia, the Near East and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean - have made significant headway in improving food security. Nevertheless, the GHI remains high in South Asia. The GHI is similarly high in Sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has been marginal since 1990. The GHI level in the world as a whole remains serious. The countries with the most worrisome hunger status and the highest 2008 GHI scores are predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Burundi, Niger, and Sierra Leone at the bottom of the list. Several dozen countries in various regions have GHI scores categorized as low. Hunger is closely tied to poverty, and countries with high levels of hunger are overwhelmingly low- or low-middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the regions with the highest GHI scores and the highest poverty rates. The recent advent of higher food prices has uneven effects across countries, depending on a range of factors, including whether countries are net importers or exporters of food. Among the countries for which the GHI is calculated, net cereal importers, for example, greatly outnumber exporters, implying that many more countries combating hunger are likely to suffer from higher prices than benefit from them. Higher food prices have also caused violent and nonviolent protests in dozens of countries. In this context of higher food prices, prospects for improving food and nutrition security do not appear favorable, given that at least 800 million people were food insecure even before the food price crisis hit. Higher food prices cut into poor households' food budgets, with particularly serious risks for undernourished infants and children. High prices also reduce the amount of food aid that donors can supply with a given amount of funds.
2013 Global hunger index: The challenge of hunger: Building resilience to achieve food and nutrition security
(Book, 2013-10-14) von Grebmer, Klaus; Headey, Derek D.; Olofinbiyi, Tolulope; Wiesmann, Doris; Yin, Sandra; Yohannes, Yisehac; Foley, Connell; von Oppeln, Constanze; Iseli, Bettina; Béné, Christophe; Haddad, Lawrence James
The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), which reflects data from the period 2008-2012, shows that global hunger has improved since 1990, falling by one-third. Despite the progress made, the level of hunger in the world remains “serious,” with 870 million people going hungry, according to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organiza-tion of the United Nations. Across regions and countries, GHI scores vary considerably. South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara are home to the highest GHI scores. South Asia significantly lowered its GHI score between 1990 and 1995, mainly thanks to a large decline in underweight in children, but was not able to maintain its fast progress. Social inequality and the low nutritional, educational, and social status of women continue to contrib-ute to the high prevalence of underweight in children under five. Africa south of the Sahara did not advance as much as South Asia in the 1990s. Since the turn of the millennium, however, Africa south of the Sahara has shown real progress, and its GHI score is now lower than South Asia’s. More political stability in countries earlier affect-ed by civil wars in the 1990s and 2000s meant economic growth could resume. Advances in the fight against HIV and AIDS, a decrease in the prevalence of malaria, and higher immunization rates contributed to a reduction in child mortality. Since 1990, 23 countries made significant progress, reducing their GHI scores by 50 percent or more. Twenty-seven countries moved out of the “extremely alarming” and “alarming” categories. In terms of absolute progress, the top ten countries in terms of improvements in GHI scores since 1990 were Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Thailand, and Vietnam.
2012 Global hunger index: The challenge of hunger: Ensuring sustainable food security under land, water, and energy stresses
(Book, 2012-10-09) von Grebmer, Klaus; Ringler, Claudia; Rosegrant, Mark W.; Olofinbiyi, Tolulope; Wiesmann, Doris; Fritschel, Heidi; Badiane, Ousmane; Torero, Maximo; Yohannes, Yisehac; Thompson, Jennifer; von Oppeln, Constanze; Rahall, Joseph
World hunger, according to the 2012 Global Hunger Index (GHI), has declined somewhat since 1990 but remains “serious.” The global average masks dramatic differences among regions and countries. Regionally, the highest GHI scores are in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. South Asia reduced its GHI score significantly between 1990 and 1996—mainly by reducing the share of underweight children— but could not maintain this rapid progress. Though Sub-Saharan Africa made less progress than South Asia in the 1990s, it has caught up since the turn of the millennium, with its 2012 GHI score falling below that of South Asia. From the 1990 GHI to the 2012 GHI, 15 countries reduced their scores by 50 percent or more. In terms of absolute progress, between the 1990 GHI and the 2012 GHI, Angola, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nicaragua, Niger, and Vietnam saw the largest improvements in their scores. Twenty countries still have levels of hunger that are “extremely alarming” or “alarming.” Most of the countries with alarming GHI scores are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (the 2012 GHI does not, however, reflect the recent crisis in the Horn of Africa, which intensified in 2011, or the uncertain food situation in the Sahel). Two of the three countries with extremely alarming 2012 GHI scores—Burundi and Eritrea—are in Sub-Saharan Africa; the third country with an extremely alarming score is Haiti. Its GHI score fell by about one quarter from 1990 to 2001, but most of this improvement was reversed in subsequent years. The devastating January 2010 earthquake, although not yet fully captured by the 2012 GHI because of insufficient availability of recent data, pushed Haiti back into the category of “extremely alarming.” In contrast to recent years, the Democratic Republic of Congo is not listed as “extremely alarming,” because insufficient data are available to calculate the country’s GHI score. Current and reliable data are urgently needed to appraise the situation in the country.
2011 Global Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger: Taming price spikes and excessive food price volatility
(Book, 2011-11-01) von Grebmer, Klaus; Torero, Maximo; Olofinbiyi, Tolulope; Fritschel, Heidi; Wiesmann, Doris; Yohannes, Yisehac; Schofield, Lilly; von Oppeln, Constanze
From the 1990 GHI to the 2011 GHI, 15 countries were able to reduce their scores by 50 percent or more. Nineteen countries moved out of the bottom two categories – “extremely alarming” and “alarming.” In terms of absolute progress, Angola, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, and Vietnam saw the largest improvements between the 1990 GHI and the 2011 GHI. Twenty-six countries still have levels of hunger that are extremely alarming or alarming. The countries with extremely alarming 2011 GHI scores – Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Eritrea – are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the countries with alarming GHI scores are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Among the six countries in which the hunger situation worsened, the Democratic Republic of Congo stands out. Its GHI score rose by about 63 percent owing to conflict and political instability. (Because of time lags in the availability of data, the 2011 GHI does not reflect the impacts of the 2010–11 food price crisis or the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa.)
2010 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger
(Book, 2010) von Grebmer, Klaus; Ruel, Marie T.; Menon, Purnima; Nestorova, Bella; Olofinbiyi, Tolulope; Fritschel, Heidi; Yohannes, Yisehac; von Oppeln, Constanze; Towey, Olive; Golden, Kate; Thompson, Jennifer;
As the world approaches the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which include a goal of reducing the proportion of hungry people by half – the 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI) offers a useful and multidimensional overview of global hunger. The 2010 GHI shows some improvement over the 1990 GHI, falling by almost one-quarter. Nonetheless, the index for hunger in the world remains at a level characterized as “serious.” The result is unsurprising given that the overall number of hungry people surpassed 1 billion in 2009, even though it decreased to 925 million in 2010, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The highest regional GHI scores are for South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, but South Asia has made much more progress since 1990. In South Asia, the low nutritional, educational, and social status of women is among the major factors that contribute to a high prevalence of underweight in children under five. In contrast, in Sub-Saharan Africa, low government effectiveness, conflict, political instability, and high rates of HIV and AIDS are among the major factors that lead to high child mortality and a high proportion of people who cannot meet their calorie requirements. Some countries achieved significant absolute progress in improving their GHI. Between the 1990 GHI and the 2010 GHI, Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Vietnam saw the largest improvements. Twenty-nine countries still have levels of hunger that are “extremely alarming” or “alarming.” The countries with “extremely alarming” 2010 GHI scores – Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Eritrea – are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the countries with “alarming” GHI scores are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The largest deterioration in GHI scores was seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo, largely because of conflict and political instability. Economic performance and hunger are inversely correlated. Countries with high levels of gross national income (GNI) per capita, an important measure of economic performance, tend to have low 2010 GHI scores, and countries with low levels of GNI per capita tend to have high GHI scores. These relationships do not always hold, however. Conflict, disease, inequality, poor governance, and gender discrimination are factors that can push a country’s level of hunger higher than what would be expected based on its income. In contrast, pro-poor economic growth, strong agricultural performance, and increasing gender equity can reduce hunger below what would be expected based on income. The high prevalence of child undernutrition is a major contributor to persistent hunger. Globally, the biggest contributor to the world GHI score is child underweight. Although the percentage of underweight in children under the age of five is only one of three elements in the GHI, it accounts for nearly half of the world GHI score. Child undernutrition is not spread evenly across the globe, but instead is concentrated in a few countries and regions. More than 90 percent of the world’s stunted children (children whose height is low for their age) live in Africa and Asia, where rates of stunting are 40 percent and 36 percent respectively. To improve their GHI scores, countries need to accelerate progress in reducing child undernutrition. Recent evidence shows that the window of opportunity for improving child nutrition spans the period from -9 to +24 months (that is, the 1,000 days between conception and a child’s second birthday). This is the period when children are in greatest need of adequate amounts of nutritious food, preventive and curative health care, and age-appropriate care practices for healthy development and when interventions are most likely to prevent undernutrition from setting in. After age two, the effects of undernutrition are largely irreversible. To reduce child undernutrition, governments should invest in effective nutrition interventions targeted to mothers and children during the window of opportunity. These interventions should focus on improving maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, promoting sound breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices, providing essential micronutrients, and adopting salt iodization, while also ensuring appropriate immunization. Achieving high coverage of these interventions could have a rapid impact on improving early childhood nutrition. Governments should also adopt policies that deal more broadly with the underlying causes of undernutrition such as food insecurity, lack of access to health services, and poor caring and feeding practices, which are exacerbated by poverty and gender inequity. Poverty-reduction strategies focused on reducing inequities are therefore part of the solution for improving early childhood nutrition, as are policies specifically aimed at improving the health, nutrition, and social status of girls and women.
Armed conflict and the challenge of hunger: Is an end in sight?
(Book Chapter, 2015-10-07) de Waal, Alex
War and famine, two fearsome horsemen, have long ridden side by side. Armed conflict disrupts food systems, destroys livelihoods, displaces people, and leaves those who do not flee both terrified and unsure when they will eat their next meal. News stories and scholarly articles on conflict and hunger are usually pessimistic, assuming both are inevitable parts of the human condition. But a review of trends offers cause for optimism: a potential end to famine and conflict-induced starvation by 2030. This chapter examines those trends, identifies vulnerable populations, explores the complex relationship between conflict and hunger, and underscores what must be done to eliminate famine for good.
2015 Global hunger index: How it's measured
(Infographic, 2015-10-14) Concern Worldwide
2015 Global hunger index: How it's measured
2015 Global hunger index: Calamitous famines cause 1 million or more deaths
(Infographic, 2015-10-14) Concern Worldwide
2015 Global hunger index: Calamitous famines cause 1 million or more deaths
2015 Global hunger index by severity
(Infographic, 2015-10-14) von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; de Waal, Alex; Prasai, Nilam; Yin, Sandra; Yohannes, Yisehac
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is based on four component indicators: >> UNDERNOURISHMENT: the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient caloric intake); >> CHILD WASTING: the proportion of children younger than age five who suffer from wasting (low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition); >> CHILD STUNTING: the proportion of children younger than age five who are stunted (low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition); and >> CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children younger than age five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments). Combining the proportion of undernourished in the population with the indicators relating to children under age five ensures that both the food-supply situation of the population as a whole and the effects of inadequate nutrition on a physiologically very vulnerable group are captured. Children’s nutritional status deserves particular attention because a deficiency of nutrients places them at high risk of physical and mental impairment and death. For many children in developing countries who die from infectious diseases, the indirect cause of death is a weakened immune system due to a lack of dietary energy, vitamins, and minerals. Since the first three indicators—the proportion of undernourished and the prevalence of wasting and stunting in children—do not capture premature death as the most tragic consequence of hunger, the under-five mortality rate is also included. The Global Hunger Index goes beyond dietary energy availability to reflect the multidimensional causes and manifestations of hunger. Inequitable resource allocations between households and within households are also taken into consideration since the latter affect the physical well-being of children. Sufficient food availability at the household level does not guarantee that all members benefit from it in equal measure. The GHI varies between the best possible score of 0 and the worst possible score of 100. Higher scores indicate greater hunger— the lower the score, the better the country’s situation. GHI scores above 20 are considered serious, scores greater than 35 are alarming, and scores exceeding 50 are extremely alarming. The calculation of GHI scores is restricted to countries where measuring hunger is considered most relevant. Some higher-income countries are not included because hunger has been largely overcome in these countries and overnutrition is a greater problem than a lack of food.
The concept of the global hunger index
(Book Chapter, 2015-10-07) von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; de Waal, Alex; Prasai, Nilam; Yin, Sandra; Yohannes, Yisehac
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally, regionally, and by country.1 Each year, the International Food Policy Research Institute calculates GHI scores in order to assess progress, or the lack thereof, in decreasing hunger. The GHI is designed to raise awareness and understanding of regional and country differences in the struggle against hunger. By calling attention to the issue, we hope that this report will trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.
Snapshots of hunger in the developing world
(Website, 2015-10-15) International Food Policy Research Institute
This interactive tool is designed for exploration of the data of the Global Hunger Index (GHI). It was developed using Tableau and is available at https://public.tableau.com/profile/ifpri.td7290#!/vizhome/2015GHI/Hungeraroundtheworld
Global, regional, and national trends
(Book Chapter, 2015-10-07) von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; de Waal, Alex; Prasai, Nilam; Yin, Sandra; Yohannes, Yisehac
Since 2000, significant progress has been made in the fight against hunger.1 The 2000 Global Hunger Index (GHI) score was 29.9 for the developing world, while the 2015 GHI score stands at 21.7, representing a reduction of 27 percent (Figure 2.1).2 To put this in context, the higher the GHI score, the higher the level of hunger. Scores between 20.0 and 34.9 points are considered serious. Thus while the GHI scores for the developing world—also referred to as the global GHI scores—for 2000 and 2015 are both in the serious category, the earlier score was closer to being categorized as alarming, while the later score is closer to the moderate category. As described in Chapter 1, all GHI calculations in this report, including those for the reference years 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005, have been calculated using a revised formula. The severity scale was adjusted to reflect this change.
Global Hunger Index: Interactive map application
(Website, 2015-10-15) International Food Policy Research Institute
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) interactive map application is an online tool designed for exploration of the GHI data. Access to the application is at http://ghi.ifpri.org/ and it is housed in a GitHub repository where IFPRI will maintain and upload new versions when they are available. https://github.com/IFPRI/Global-Hunger-Index
GHI 2014 Interactive Map
(Training Material, 2014) International Food Policy Research Institute
Represents the incidence of hunger in various developing countries based on three equally weighted indicators. A selection by year, GHI level, and by region generates a report that can be printed.
The concept of the Global Hunger Index
(Book Chapter, 2017) von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; Hossain, Naomi; Brown, Tracy; Prasai, Nilam; Yohannes, Yisehac; Patterson, Fraser; Sonntag, Andrea; Zimmerman, Sophia-Maria; Towey, Olive; Foley, Connell
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 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. The GHI is designed to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, provide a means to compare the levels of hunger between countries and regions, and call attention to the areas of the world in greatest need of additional resources to eliminate hunger.
Policy recommendations
(Book Chapter, 2017) von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; Hossain, Naomi; Brown, Tracy; Prasai, Nilam; Yohannes, Yisehac; Patterson, Fraser; Sonntag, Andrea; Zimmerman, Sophia-Maria; Towey, Olive; Foley, Connell
Although enough food is produced globally to feed the world, hunger persists—largely the product of various and severe inequalities. Yet neither hunger nor inequality is inevitable; both are rooted in uneven power relations that often are perpetuated and exacerbated by laws, policies, attitudes, and practices.
Inequality, hunger, and malnutrition: Power matters
(Book Chapter, 2017) Hossain, Naomi
The uneven distribution of hunger and nutrition reflects the unequal distribution of power in the food system. In its hourglass shape, the power at the center amplifies poverty and marginalization at both ends of the system: at one end, small-scale farmers and low-paid food producers suffer hardship; at the other end, those excluded from or adversely incorporated into globalized food markets face hunger and malnutrition. Transnational corporations’ growing control over what we eat—which often deepens existing inequalities—has generated a wide range of spaces and forms of resistance. Power analysis encourages us to look beyond the obvious and the measurable, to trace the effects of interests operating at multiple levels of the food system, to find opportunities where and when they arise, and to enter spaces where that power can be challenged, resisted, and redistributed. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’ aim of “leaving no one behind” demands approaches to hunger and malnutrition that are both more sensitive to their uneven distribution and more attuned to the power inequalities that amplify the effects of poverty and marginalization in all forms of malnutrition.
Global, regional, and national trends
(Book Chapter, 2017) von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; Hossain, Naomi; Brown, Tracy; Prasai, Nilam; Yohannes, Yisehac; Patterson, Fraser; Sonntag, Andrea; Zimmerman, Sophia-Maria; Towey, Olive; Foley, Connell
As the issue of famine looms large, it is easy to lose sight of the progress that has been made in the fight against hunger and undernutrition. The 2017 Global Hunger Index shows positive developments on many fronts, but there are still deep inequalities in hunger and undernutrition at the regional, national, and subnational levels. Too many people lack access to the quantity and quality of food they need. And too many people are not healthy enough to nutritionally benefit from food, for example, because infectious diseases prevent them from properly absorbing nutrients. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda includes the goal of ending hunger worldwide, while “leaving no one behind” (UN 2015). Examining hunger through the lens of inequality brings into sharper focus those populations, at all levels, who have so far been left behind. As we make progress in combating hunger, we should apply lessons learned and concentrate attention and resources on the areas where hunger and undernutrition are still unacceptably high in order to further decrease hunger in the future.

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