India is ‘Seriously’ hungry

By Irudhaya Jothi

Kailashahar, Tripura, Oct. 16, 2021: In the 2021 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 101 out of the116 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2021 scores. With a score of 27.5, India has a level of hunger that isserious.

India was ranked 94 in the previous year, now trailing behind some neighbours such as Pakistan (92), Nepal (76), and Bangladesh (76).

On this World Food Day there is nothing much to celebrate but to be ashamed of our performance in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, which is goal no.1 of Millennium Development Goals.

Starvation is a reality and it has increased during pandemic.

The Global Hunger Index 2021 published by Concern Worldwide and Welthingerhilfe, points to a dire hunger situation fuelled by a toxic cocktail of the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasingly severe and protracted violent conflicts. Progress toward Zero Hunger by 2030, already far too slow, is showing signs of stagnating or even being reversed.

The global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthingerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, reginal, and country levels.

The aim of the global hunger index is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.

The GHI is determined using four indicators – percentage of population that is undernourished, and percentage of children under five years suffering from wasting, stunting, and child mortality respectively. Data for the report is obtained from the United Nations and other agencies.

Every year before the world food day on October 16 , the Global Hunger Index is released.

The theme for World Food Day 2021 is “Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow”. The theme of this year is based on appreciating the individuals who have contributed to creating sustainable surroundings where no one is left hungry.

The day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the founding of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) OF THE United Nations in 1945. Many other organisations concerned with food security such as the World Food Programme, International Fund for Agricultural Development also celebrate the day.

The World Food Day was established in November 1979, as suggested by former Hungarian minister of agriculture and food Dr Pal Romany. It gradually became a way to raise awareness about hunger, malnutrition, sustainability and food production.

The FAO said that today’s agri-food systems are exposing profound inequalities and injustices. At least two billion people don’t have regular access to sufficient amounts of safe, nutritious food, while three billion cannot afford healthy diets and obesity continues to increase worldwide.

It further said that vast quantities of food are lost even when millions of people go hungry every day. The food is either spoiled during production or transport or thrown into the waste bins of households, retailers or restaurants. Further area of concern is generation of greenhouse gas like methane by food waste which is filling up the world’s landfills.

FAO said that to fix this, collective action is needed so that everyone has enough safe and nutritious food to eat, and the entire food supply chain is more sustainable, resilient and inclusive.

India had the worst numbers in terms of child wasting, which shows under-nutrition. Child wasting was the same as last year (17 percent), but an improvement from 2019 (20.8 percent)

The countries that fare worse than India include Papua New Guinea (102), Afghanistan (103), Nigeria (103), Congo (105), Mozambique (106), Sierra Leone (106), Timor-Leste (108), Haiti (109), Liberia (110), Madagascar (111), Democratic Republic of Congo (112), Chad (113), Central African Republic (114), Yemen (115), and Somalia (116).

According to GHI website, China, Brazil, and Kuwait shared the top rank with a score of less than five.

A statement from The ministry of Women and Child development quick in responding to the report saying, “It is shocking to find that the Global Hunger Index 2021 has lowered the rank of India on the basis of FAO estimates on proportions of undernourished population, which found to be devoid of ground reality and the facts and suffers from serious methodological issues.”

The statement also elaborates various schemes introduced by the central govt to alleviate starvation such as Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna(PMGKAY), Atma Nirbhar Bharat Scheme(ANBS).

Kapil Sibil of the Congress party was quick in attacking the ruling party on his twitter handle by saying, “Congratulations Modi ji for eradicating: 1) poverty 2) hunger 3) making India a global power 4) for our digital economy 5) . so much more Global Hunger Index : 2020 : India ranked 94 2021 : India ranks 101 Behind Bangladesh , Pakistan & Nepal”

A study on hunger watch in West Bengal, as part of national study in 11 states across India revealed a scary picture.

About 18.7 percent had gone to bed hungry in last 30 days of our survey in October 2020.

Some over 100 enumerators from 20 civil society organisations participated in the study with among 3,000 vulnerable families in 21 districts of Bengal.

During the lockdown period, Integrated Child Development Schemes and Mid-day meal schemes were distributing one kilogram of rice and potato per child for a month. There has been a loot by the state govternments on the same.

There is a record rice harvest along with wheat hitting at 305.44 million metric tons this year. In this land of plenty starvation is a shame to the say the least.