Global Hunger Index

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool that measures and tracks hunger globally as well as by region and by country. The GHI is calculated annually, and its results appear in a report issued in October each year.[1][2]

2019 Global Hunger Index by Severity

Created in 2006, the GHI was initially published by the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Germany-based Welthungerhilfe. In 2007, the Irish NGO Concern Worldwide also became a co-publisher.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] In 2018, IFPRI stepped aside from its involvement in the project and the GHI became a joint project of Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.[17]

The 2019 Global Hunger Index report presents a multi-dimensional measure of national, regional, and global hunger by assigning a numerical score based on several aspects of hunger. It then ranks countries by GHI score and compares current scores with past results. After declining since 2000, hunger at the global level lies on the cusp between moderate and serious, according to the 2019 report. Many individual countries have also achieved reductions in hunger since 2000, but in some countries hunger persists or has even worsened.

Calculation of the Index

The Index ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice. The severity of hunger associated with the range of possible GHI scores is as follows:

Low ≤ 9.9 Moderate 10.0-19.9 Serious 20.0-34.9 Alarming 35.0-49.9 Extremely alarming ≥ 50.0[18]

The GHI combines 4 component indicators: 1) the proportion of the undernourished as a percentage of the population; 2) the proportion of children under the age of five suffering from wasting, a sign of acute undernutrition; 3) the proportion of children under the age of five suffering from stunting, a sign of chronic undernutrition; and 4) the mortality rate of children under the age of five.[GHI2016 1]

The data and projections used for the 2019 GHI are for the period from 2014 to 2018—the most recent available data for the four components of the GHI. The data on the proportion of undernourished come from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and include authors' estimates.[19] Data on child wasting and stunting are collected from UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, WHO, MEASURE DHS, the Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development, and also include the authors’ own estimates.[GHI2016 2] Data on child mortality are from the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.[20]

Besides presenting GHI scores, each year the GHI report includes an essay addressing one particular aspect of hunger. The 2019 report considers the issue of hunger and climate change.

In previous years, topics included:

  • 2010: Early childhood undernutrition among children younger than the age of two.[21]
  • 2011: Rising and more volatile food prices of the recent years and the effects these changes have on hunger and malnutrition.[22]
  • 2012: Achieving food security and sustainable use of natural resources, when the natural sources of food become increasingly scarce.[23]
  • 2013: Strengthening community resilience against undernutrition and malnutrition.[24]
  • 2014: Hidden hunger, a form of undernutrition characterized by micronutrient deficiencies.[25]
  • 2015: Armed conflict and its relation to hunger.[26]
  • 2016: Reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030.[27]
  • 2017: The challenges of inequality and hunger.[28]
  • 2018: Forced migration and hunger.[29]

In addition to the yearly GHI, the Hunger Index for the States of India (ISHI) was published in 2008[30] and the Sub-National Hunger Index for Ethiopia was published in 2009.[31]

An interactive map allows users to visualize the data for different years and zoom into specific regions or countries.

Regional 2019 GHI Scores with Components

The global 2019 GHI score of 20.0 falls on the cusp of moderate and serious. This is down from 29.2 in 2000. However, levels of hunger are still serious or alarming in 47 countries and extremely alarming in one country.

Hunger varies enormously by region. The 2019 GHI scores of South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara, at 29.3 and 28.4, respectively, reflect serious levels of hunger that are dramatically higher than in any other region of the world. South Asia's high GHI score of 29.3 is driven by its high rates of child undernutrition: rates of child stunting and child wasting there are the highest levels of any region in the report.

With a 2019 GHI score of 28.4, Africa South of the Sahara also suffers from a serious level of hunger. The region's score is driven up by its undernourishment and child mortality rates, which are the highest of any region, while its child stunting rate is nearly as high as that of South Asia. Troublingly, while the prevalence of undernourishment in Africa South of the Sahara consistently declined from 1999–2001 to 2013–2015, it has since reversed course and begun to rise.

In contrast, hunger is low or moderate in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, Latin America and the Caribbean, East and Southeast Asia, and the Near East and North Africa, where 2019 regional GHI scores range from 6.6 to 13.3. Yet even some countries within those regions have serious or alarming levels of hunger and undernutrition.

Ranking

Country rankings as per the Global Hunger Index.[32]

Legend

  Countries where hunger is low (GHI ≤ 9.9)
  Countries where hunger is moderate (GHI = 10.0-19.9)
  Countries where hunger is serious (GHI = 20.0–34.9)
  Countries where hunger is alarming (GHI = 35.0–49.9)
  Countries where hunger is extremely alarming (GHI ≥ 50.0)
Rank (2019) Country Continent Period Average period decrease
2000200520102019[33] ActualPercentage
1-17  Belarus Europe <5 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe 9.8 7.2 5.1 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Bulgaria Europe 8.2 7.8 6.9 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Chile South America <5 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Costa Rica North America 6.2 5.5 5.0 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Croatia Europe 6.1 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Cuba North America 5.3 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Estonia Europe 5.6 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Kuwait Asia <5 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Latvia Europe 6.0 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Lithuania Europe <5 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Montenegro Europe — — <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Romania Europe 8.3 6.4 5.6 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Slovakia 7.3 6.0 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Turkey Europe 10.2 7.3 5.4 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Ukraine (famine) Europe 13.7 <5 <5 <5 0.00 0.00
1-17  Uruguay South America 7.7 8.1 5.4 <5 0.00 0.00
18  Brazil 12.0 7.0 5.4 5.3 2.23 22.13
19  Argentina South America 6.6 6.2 5.9 5.4 0.40 6.46
20  Kazakhstan Asia 11.0 12.4 8.6 5.5 1.83 17.99
21  North Macedonia Europe 7.7 8.5 7.0 5.6 0.70 9.09
22  Russia 10.3 7.5 6.4 5.8 1.50 17.08
23  Mexico North America 10.6 9.1 7.7 6.2 1.47 16.34
23  Tunisia Africa 10.7 8.6 7.9 6.2 1.50 16.43
25  China Asia 15.8 13.0 10.0 6.5 3.10 25.27
25  Serbia Europe — — 6.7 6.5 0.00 0.00
27  Colombia South America 11.3 10.8 9.9 6.7 1.53 15.03
28  Albania Europe 21.5 16.6 15.1 7.0 4.83 28.49
29  Azerbaijan Asia 27.5 17.3 12.1 7.4 6.70 35.33
30  Armenia Europe 18.3 12.7 11.3 7.8 3.50 24.20
31  Iran Asia 13.5 9.4 8.2 7.9 1.87 15.60
32  Jamaica North America 8.6 8.6 9.7 8.2 0.13 0.89
33  Paraguay South America 14.0 12.6 11.6 8.3 1.90 15.46
34  Saudi Arabia Asia 11.5 13.7 9.2 8.5 1.00 7.11
35  Kyrgyzstan 19.3 14.0 12.4 8.8 3.50 22.64
35  Peru South America 20.9 18.2 12.5 8.8 4.03 24.61
37  Fiji Oceania 9.9 9.3 8.6 8.9 0.33 3.37
38  Trinidad and Tobago North America 12.1 12.9 12.7 9.1 1.00 7.76
39  Dominican Republic North America 18.3 17.2 12.8 9.2 3.03 19.91
39  Georgia Asia 14.5 10.4 8.4 9.2 1.77 12.66
39  Panama North America 20.2 18.3 12.6 9.2 3.67 22.51
42  Morocco Africa 15.8 17.7 10.0 9.4 2.13 12.49
43  El Salvador North America 16.3 13.3 12.8 9.6 2.23 15.72
43  Mauritius Africa 15.3 14.0 12.2 9.6 1.90 14.22
45  Mongolia Asia 31.8 25.0 15.8 9.7 7.37 32.26
45  Thailand Asia 18.3 13.2 12.7 9.7 2.87 18.43
47  Algeria Africa 15.6 12.9 10.6 10.3 1.77 12.66
48  Jordan Asia 12.1 8.7 8.3 10.5 0.53 2.06
49  Uzbekistan Asia 23.6 17.8 14.7 10.7 4.30 23.07
50  Suriname South America 16.0 12.5 11.0 10.8 1.73 11.90
51  Ecuador South America 18.6 17.0 13.2 11.3 2.43 15.12
52  Oman Asia 13.7 15.6 9.8 11.4 0.77 2.33
53  Lebanon Asia 9.1 10.3 8.0 11.6 −0.83 −11.95
54  Turkmenistan Asia 21.8 17.1 15.0 11.8 3.33 18.39
55  Guyana South America 18.0 16.8 16.0 12.6 1.80 10.89
56  Honduras North America 20.9 17.8 14.8 12.9 2.67 14.84
57  Malaysia Asia 15.5 13.1 11.9 13.1 0.80 4.85
58  Nicaragua North America 24.6 17.6 16.2 13.3 3.77 18.10
59  Ghana Africa 28.7 22.0 18.3 14.0 4.90 21.22
59  South Africa Africa 19.2 22.7 16.6 14.0 1.73 8.10
61  Egypt Africa 16.3 14.3 16.3 14.6 0.57 2.90
62  Vietnam 28.2 23.8 18.8 15.3 4.30 18.41
63  Bolivia South America 30.3 27.1 21.6 15.4 4.97 19.85
64  Gabon Africa 20.8 18.9 16.4 15.8 1.67 8.67
65  Venezuela (more info) South America 15.2 12.7 8.4 16.9 −0.57 −16.96
66  Sri Lanka Asia 22.4 21.2 18.0 17.1 1.77 8.48
67  Senegal Africa 36.3 27.5 23.6 17.9 6.13 20.86
68  Iraq Asia 26.4 24.8 23.8 18.7 2.57 10.51
69  Myanmar Asia 44.4 36.4 25.9 19.8 8.20 23.47
70  Indonesia Asia 25.8 26.8 24.9 20.1 1.90 7.50
70  Philippines (more info) Asia 25.8 21.4 20.5 20.1 1.90 7.74
72  Guatemala North America 27.7 24.1 22.0 20.6 2.37 9.36
73    Nepal Asia 36.8 31.3 24.5 20.8 5.33 17.26
74  Eswatini Africa 29.6 27.9 26.5 20.9 2.90 10.63
75  Gambia Africa 27.5 26.3 22.5 21.8 1.90 7.31
76  Cameroon Africa 39.7 33.7 26.2 22.6 5.70 17.04
77  Cambodia Asia 43.6 29.4 27.6 22.8 6.93 18.69
78  Malawi Africa 44.5 37.7 31.1 23.0 7.17 19.61
79  Lesotho Africa 33.1 30.4 26.2 23.2 3.30 11.14
80  Botswana Africa 33.4 31.5 28.1 23.6 3.27 10.83
81  Togo Africa 39.3 37.0 27.2 23.9 5.13 14.82
82  Benin Africa 36.7 33.3 28.3 24.0 4.23 13.16
83  Mali Africa 44.2 38.4 27.4 24.1 6.70 17.94
84  Ivory Coast Africa 33.8 35.3 30.9 24.9 2.97 9.15
84  Namibia Africa 30.7 28.4 30.6 24.9 1.93 6.12
86  Kenya Africa 36.9 32.7 27.6 25.2 3.90 11.89
87  Laos Asia 47.7 35.9 30.5 25.7 7.33 18.51
88  Bangladesh (more info) Asia 36.1 30.7 30.3 25.8 3.43 10.37
88  Burkina Faso Africa 46.3 48.1 36.8 25.8 6.83 16.50
90  Mauritania Africa 33.4 30.6 24.9 26.7 2.23 6.59
91  Guinea Africa 43.6 36.8 30.7 27.4 5.40 14.31
92  North Korea (famine) Asia 40.3 32.9 30.9 27.7 4.20 11.60
93  Nigeria Africa 40.8 34.2 29.9 27.9 4.30 11.81
94  Pakistan Asia 38.3 37.0 35.9 28.5 3.27 8.99
95  Tanzania (more info) Africa 42.2 35.9 34.1 28.6 4.53 12.02
96  Mozambique Africa 49.9 42.3 35.3 28.8 7.03 16.73
97  Ethiopia Africa 55.9 46.0 37.4 28.9 9.00 19.71
98  Rwanda Africa 56.6 44.0 32.4 29.1 9.17 19.60
99  Guinea-Bissau Africa 42.1 40.3 31.0 29.6 4.17 10.62
100  Angola Africa 65.1 50.3 38.6 29.8 11.77 22.93
101  Niger Africa 52.1 42.4 36.6 30.2 7.30 16.59
102  India (famine) Asia 38.8 38.9 32.0 30.3 2.83 7.60
103  Sierra Leone Africa 53.6 51.1 40.8 30.4 7.73 16.77
104  Uganda Africa 38.9 33.0 30.8 30.6 2.77 7.49
105  Djibouti Africa 46.9 43.9 36.6 30.9 5.33 12.87
106  Congo 37.7 37.1 32.0 31.0 2.23 6.15
107  Sudan Africa — — — 32.8 0.00 0.00
108  Afghanistan Asia 52.1 43.2 34.3 33.8 6.10 13.05
109  Zimbabwe Africa 39.1 39.6 35.8 34.4 1.57 4.08
110  East Timor Asia — 41.8 42.3 34.5 0.00 0.00
111  Haiti North America 42.7 45.1 48.8 34.7 2.67 5.02
112  Liberia Africa 48.6 42.4 36.0 34.9 4.57 10.30
113  Zambia Africa 52.3 46.0 42.8 38.1 4.73 9.99
114  Madagascar Africa 43.2 43.4 36.2 41.5 0.57 0.50
115  Chad Africa 51.5 52.1 50.9 44.2 2.43 4.77
116  Yemen (famine) Asia 43.2 41.7 34.5 45.9 −0.90 −4.10
117  Central African Republic Africa 50.7 49.5 42.0 53.6 −0.97 −3.37

— = Data are not available or not presented. Some countries did not exist in their present borders in the given year or reference period.

Note: Rankings and index scores from this table cannot be accurately compared to rankings and index scores from previous reports (see Chapter 1 in the GHI 2019 full report).[34]

Countries are ranked according to 2019 GHI scores. Countries that have identical 2019 scores are given the same ranking (for example, Mexico and Tunisia are both ranked 23rd). The following countries could not be included because of lack of data: Bahrain, Bhutan, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Moldova, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Somalia, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Tajikistan.

Focus of the 2019 GHI: The Challenge of Hunger and Climate Change

The 2019 GHI report notes that climate change is making it ever more difficult to adequately and sustainably feed and nourish the human population. Climate change has direct and indirect negative impacts on food security and hunger through changes in food production and availability, access, quality, utilization, and stability of food systems. In addition, climate change can contribute to conflict, especially in vulnerable and food-insecure regions, creating a double vulnerability for communities, which are pushed beyond their ability to cope.

Furthermore, climate change raises four key inequities that play out at the interface of climate change and food security: 1. the degree of responsibility for causing climate change 2. the intergenerational impacts of climate change 3. the impacts of climate change on poorer people in the Global South 4. the ability and capacity to deal with climate change impacts

Current actions are inadequate for the scale of the threat that climate change poses to food security. Transformation—a fundamental change in the attributes of human and natural systems—is now recognized as central to climate-resilient development pathways that can achieve zero hunger. Individual and collective values and behaviors must push toward sustainability and a fairer balance of political, cultural, and institutional power in society.

Focus of the 2018 GHI: Forced Migration and Hunger

The 2018 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report—the 13th in the annual series—presents a multidimensional measure of national, regional, and global hunger by assigning a numerical score based on several aspects of hunger. It then ranks countries by GHI score and compares current scores with past results. The 2018 report shows that in many countries and in terms of the global average, hunger and undernutrition have declined since 2000; in some parts of the world, however, hunger and undernutrition persist or have even worsened. Since 2010, 16 countries have seen no change or an increase in their GHI levels.

The essay in the 2018 GHI report examines forced migration and hunger—two closely intertwined challenges that affect some of the poorest and most conflict-ridden regions of the world. Globally, there are an estimated 68.5 million displaced people, including 40.0 million internally displaced people, 25.4 million refugees, and 3.1 million asylum seekers. For these people, hunger may be both a cause and a consequence of forced migration. Support for food-insecure displaced people needs to be improved in four key areas: • recognizing and addressing hunger and displacement as political problems; • adopting more holistic approaches to protracted displacement settings involving development support; • providing support to food-insecure displaced people in their regions of origin; and • recognizing that the resilience of displaced people is never entirely absent and should be the basis for providing support.

The 2018 Global Hunger Index report presents recommendations for providing a more effective and holistic response to forced migration and hunger. These include focusing on those countries and groups of people who need the most support, providing long-term solutions for displaced people, and engaging in greater responsibility sharing at an international level.

Focus of the 2017 GHI: The Inequalities of Hunger

The 2017 highlights the uneven nature of progress made in reducing hunger worldwide and the ways in which inequalities of power lead to unequal nourishment.

Achieving the UN 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 intensify the effects of poverty and marginalization on malnutrition. The report emphasizes the importance of using power analysis to name all forms of power that keep people hungry and malnourished; the significance of designing interventions strategically focused on where power is exerted; the need to empower the hungry and malnourished to challenge and resist loss of control over the food they eat.

Focus of the 2016 GHI: Getting to zero hunger

The 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) presents a multidimensional measure of national, regional, and global hunger, focusing on how the world can get to Zero Hunger by 2030.

The developing world has made substantial progress in reducing hunger since 2000. The 2016 GHI shows that the level of hunger in developing countries as a group has fallen by 29 percent. Yet this progress has been uneven, and great disparities in hunger continue to exist at the regional, national, and subnational levels.

The 2016 GHI emphasizes that the regions, countries, and populations most vulnerable to hunger and undernutrition have to be identified, so improvement can be targeted there, if the world community wants to seriously Sustainable Development Goal 2 on ending hunger and achieving food security.[GHI2016 3]

Focus of the 2015 GHI: Armed Conflict and Chronic Hunger

The chapter on hunger and conflict shows that the time of the great famines with more than 1 million people dead is over. There is, however, a clear connection between armed conflict and severe hunger. Most of the countries scoring worst in the 2015 GHI, are experiencing armed conflict or have in recent years. Still, severe hunger exists also without conflict present as the cases of several countries in South Asia and Africa show.

Since 2005 and increase in armed conflict can be seen. Unless armed conflicts can be reduced there is little hope for overcoming hunger.[GHI2015 1]

Focus of the 2014 GHI: Hidden Hunger

Hidden hunger concerns over 200 million people worldwide. This micronutrient deficiency develops when humans do not take in enough micronutrients such as zinc, folate, iron and vitamins, or when their bodies cannot absorb them. Reasons include an unbalanced diet, a higher need for micronutrients (e.g. during pregnancy or while breast feeding) but also health issues related to sickness, infections or parasites.

The consequences for individuals can be devastating: these often include mental impairment, bad health, low productivity and death caused by sickness. In particular, children are affected if they do not absorb enough micronutrients in the first 1000 days of their lives (beginning with conception).[GHI2014 1]

Micronutrient deficiencies are responsible for an estimated 1.1 million of the yearly 3.1 million death caused by undernutrition in children. Despite the magnitude of the problem, it is still not easy to get precise data on the spread of hidden hunger. Macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies cause a loss in global productivity of 1.4 to 2.1 billion US Dollars per year.[35]

Different measures exist to prevent hidden hunger. It is essential to ensure that humans maintain a diverse diet. The quality of produce is as important as the caloric input. This can be achieved by promoting the production of a wide variety of nutrient-rich plants and the creation of house gardens.

Other possible solutions are the industrial enrichment of food or biofortification of feedplants (e.g. vitamin A rich sweet potatoes). In the case of acute nutrient deficiency and in specific life phases, food supplements can be used. In particular, the addition of vitamin A leads to a better child survival rate.[GHI2014 2]

Generally, the situation concerning hidden hunger can only be improved when many measures intermesh. In addition to the direct measures described above, this includes the education and empowerment of women, the creation of better sanitation and adequate hygiene, and access to clean drinking water and health services.

Focus of the 2013 GHI: Resilience to build food and nutrition security

Many of the countries, in which the hunger situation is "alarming" or "extremely alarming", are particularly prone to crises: In the African Sahel people experience yearly droughts. On top of that, they have to deal with violent conflict and natural calamities. At the same time, the global context becomes more and more volatile (financial and economic crises, food price crises).

The inability to cope with these crises leads to the destruction of many development successes that had been achieved over the years. In addition, people have even less resources to withstand the next shock or crises. 2.6 billion people in the world live with less than US$2 per day. For them, a sickness in the family, crop failure after a drought or the interruption of remittances from relatives who live abroad can set in motion a downward spiral from which they cannot free themselves on their own.

It is therefore not enough to support people in emergencies and, once the crises is over, to start longer-term development efforts. Instead, emergency and development assistance has to be conceptualized with the goal of increasing resilience of poor people against these shocks.

The Global Hunger Index differentiates three coping strategies. The lower the intensity of the crises, the less resources have to be used to cope with the consequences:[GHI2013 1]

  • Absorption: Skills or resources, which are used to reduce the impact of a crisis without changing the lifestyle (e.g. selling some livestock)
  • Adaptation: Once the capacity to absorb is exhausted, steps are taken to adapt the lifestyle to the situation without making drastic changes (e.g. using drought-resistant seeds).
  • Transformation: If the adaptation strategies do not suffice to deal with the negative impact of the crises, fundamental, longer lasting changes to life and behavior have to be made (e.g. nomadic tribes become sedentary and become farmers because they cannot keep their herds).

Based on this analysis the authors present several policy recommendations:[GHI2013 2]

  • Overcoming the institutional, financial and conceptual boundaries between humanitarian aid and development assistance.
  • Elimination of policies that undermine people's resilience. Using the Right to Food as a basis for the development of new policies.
  • Implementation of multi-year, flexible programs, which are financed in a way that enables multi-sectoral approaches to overcome chronic food crises.
  • Communicating that improving resilience is cost effective and improves food and nutrition security, especially in fragile contexts.
  • Scientific monitoring and evaluation of measures and programs with the goal to increase resilience.
  • Active involvement of the local population in the planning and implementation of resilience increasing programs.
  • Improvement of food especially of mothers and children through nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions to avoid that short-term crises lead to nutrition-related problems late in life or across generations.

Focus of the 2012 GHI: Pressures on land, water and energy resources

Increasingly, Hunger is related to how we use land, water and energy. The growing scarcity of these resources puts more and more pressure on food security. Several factors contribute to an increasing shortage of natural resources:[GHI2012 1]

  1. Demographic change: The world population is expected to be over 9 billion by 2050. Additionally, more and more people live in cities. Urban populations feed themselves differently than inhabitants of rural areas; they tend to consume less staple foods and more meat and dairy products.
  2. Higher income and non-sustainable use of resources: As the global economy grows, wealthy people consume more food and goods, which have to be produced with a lot of water and energy. They can afford not to be efficient and wasteful in their use of resources.
  3. Bad policies and weak institutions: When policies, for example energy policy, are not tested for the consequences they have on the availability of land and water it can lead to failures. An example are the biofuel policies of industrialized countries: As corn and sugar are increasingly used for the production of fuels, there is less land and water for the production of food.

Signs for an increasing scarcity of energy, land and water resources are for example: growing prices for food and energy, a massive increase of large-scale investment in arable land (so-called land grabbing), increasing degradation of arable land because of too intensive land use (for example, increasing desertification), increasing number of people, who live in regions with lowering ground water levels, and the loss of arable land as a consequence of climate change. The analysis of the global conditions lead the authors of the GHI 2012 to recommend several policy actions:[36]

  • Securing land and water rights
  • Gradual lowering of subsidies
  • Creation of a positive macroeconomic framework
  • Investment in agriculture technology development to promote a more efficient use of land, water and energy
  • Support for approaches, that lead to a more efficient use of land, water and energy along the whole value chain
  • Preventing and overuse of natural resources through monitoring strategies for water, land and energy, and agricultural systems
  • Improvement of the access to education for women and the strengthening of their reproductive rights to address demographic change
  • Increase incomes, reduce social and economic inequality and promotion of sustainable lifestyles
  • Climate change mitigation and adaptation through a reorientation of agriculture

Focus of the 2011 GHI: Rising and volatile food prices

The report cites 3 factors as the main reasons for high volatility, or price changes, and price spikes of food:

  • Use of the so-called biofuels, promoted by high oil prices, subsidies in the United States (over one third of the corn harvest of 2009 and 2010 respectively) and quota for biofuel in gasoline in the European Union, India and others.
  • Extreme weather events as a result of Climate Change
  • Future trading of agricultural commodities, for instance investments in fonds, which are speculating on price changes of agricultural products (2003: 13 Bn US Dollar, 2008: 260 Bn US Dollar), as well as increasing trade volume of these goods.

Volatility and prices increases are worsened according to the report by the concentration of staple foods in a few countries and export restrictions of these goods, the historical low of worldwide cereal reserves and the lack of timely information on food products, reserves and price developments. Especially this lack of information can lead to overreactions in the markets. Moreover, seasonal limitations on production possibilities, limited land for agricultural production, limited access to fertilizers and water, as well as the increasing demand resulting from population growth, puts pressure on food prices.

According to the Global Hunger Index 2011 price trends show especially harsh consequences for poor and under-nourished people, because they are not capable to react to price spikes and price changes. Reactions, following these developments, can include: reduced calorie intake, no longer sending children to school, riskier income generation such as prostitution, criminality, or searching landfills, and sending away household members, who cannot be fed anymore. In addition, the report sees an all-time high in the instability and unpredictability of food prices, which after decades of slight decrease, increasingly show price spikes (strong and short-term increase).[GHI2011 1][GHI2011 2]

At a national level, especially food importing countries (those with a negative food trade balance, are affected by the changing prices.

Focus of the 2010 GHI: Early Childhood Under-nutrition

Under-nutrition among children has reached terrible levels. About 195 million children under the age of five in the developing world—about one in three children—are too small and thus underdeveloped. Nearly one in four children under age five—129 million—is underweight, and one in 10 is severely underweight. The problem of child under-nutrition is concentrated in a few countries and regions with more than 90 percent of stunted children living in Africa and Asia. 42% of the world's undernourished children live in India alone.

The evidence presented in the report[37] [38] shows that the window of opportunity for improving nutrition spans is the 1,000 days between conception and a child's second birthday (that is the period from -9 to +24 months). Children who are do not receive adequate nutrition during this period have increased risks to experiencing lifelong damage, including poor physical and cognitive development, poor health, and even early death. The consequences of malnutrition that occurred after 24 months of a child's life are by contrast largely reversible.[39]

Other activities

IFPRI is a partner in Compact2025, a partnership that develops and disseminates evidence-based advice to politicians and other decision-makers aimed at ending hunger and undernutrition in the coming 10 years.[40] The Compact2025 uses GHI data.

See also
  • List of countries by percentage of population suffering from undernourishment

References
  1. 2019 GHI: Chapter 1
  2. Global Hunger Index. Global Hunger Index and the Paradox of Hunger. Human Rights & the Global Economy eJournal. Social Science Research Network (SSRN).
  3. IFPRI/ Welthungerhilfe: The Challenge of Hunger − Global Hunger Index: Facts, determinants, and trends. Case studies of post conflict countries of Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. Bonn, October 2006.
  4. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: The Challenge of Hunger 2007 − Global Hunger Index: Facts, determinants, and trends 2007. Measures being taken to reduce acute undernourishment and chronic hunger. Bonn, October 2007.
  5. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: Global Hunger Index − The Challenge of Hunger 2008. Bonn, Washington D.C., Dublin. October 2008.
  6. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: 2009 Global Hunger Index − The Challenge of Hunger: Focus on Financial Crisis and Gender Inequality. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2009.
  7. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: 2010 Global Hunger Index The challenge of hunger: Focus on the crisis of child undernutrition. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2011.
  8. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: 2011 Global Hunger Index - The challenge of hunger: Taming Price Spikes and Excessive Food Price Volatility. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2011.
  9. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: 2012 Global Hunger Index - The challenge of hunger: Ensuring sustainable food security under land, water, and energy stresses. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2012.
  10. Welthungerhilfe, IFPRI, and Concern Worldwide: 2013 Global Hunger Index - The challenge of hunger: Building Resilience to Achieve Food and Nutrition Security. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2013.
  11. Welthungerhilfe, IFPRI, and Concern Worldwide: 2014 Global Hunger Index - The challenge of hidden hunger. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2014.
  12. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, A. de Waal, N. Prasai, S. Yin, Y. Yohannes: 2015 Global Hunger Index - Armed Conflict and the Challenge of Hunger. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin: Welthungerhilfe, IFPRI, and Concern Worldwide. October 2015.
  13. von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; Nabarro, David; Prasai, Nilam; Amin, Shazia; Yohannes, Yisehac; Sonntag, Andrea; Patterson, Fraser; Towey, Olive; and Thompson, Jennifer. 2016 Global hunger index: Getting to zero hunger. Bonn; Washington, DC; and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe; International Food Policy Research Institute; and Concern Worldwide.
  14. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, N. Hossain, T. Brown, N. Prasai, Y. Yohannes, F. Patterson, A. Sonntag, S.-M. Zimmermann, O. Towey, C. Foley. 2017. 2017 Global Hunger Index: The Inequalities of Hunger. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute; Bonn: Welthungerhilfe; and Dublin: Concern Worldwide.
  15. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, L. Hammond, F. Patterson, A. Sonntag, L. Klaus, J. Fahlbusch, O. Towey, C. Foley, S. Gitter, K. Ekstrom, and H. Fritschel. 2018. 2018 Global Hunger Index: Forced Migration and Hunger. Bonn and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
  16. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, R. Mukerji, F. Patterson, M. Wiemers, R. Ní Chéilleachair, C. Foley, S. Gitter, K. Ekstrom, and H. Fritschel. 2019. 2019 Global Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger and Climate Change. Bonn: Welthungerhilfe; and Dublin: Concern Worldwide.
  18. von Grebmer, Klaus; Bernstein, Jill; Hossain, Naomi; Brown, Tracy; Prasai, Nilam; Yohannes, Yisehac; Patterson, Fraser; Sonntag, Andrea; Zimmermann, Sophia-Marie; Towey, Olive; and Foley, Connell. 2017. 2017 Global Hunger Index: The inequalities of hunger: Synopsis. Washington, D.C.; Bonn; and Dublin: International Food Policy Research Institute, Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide.
  19. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2016. Food Security Indicators ((Updated February 9, 2016). . Rome.
  20. UN IGME (UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation). 2015. Child Mortality Estimates Info, Under-five Mortality Estimates. (Updated September 9, 2015). .
  21. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, A. de Waal, N. Prasai, S. Yin, Y. Yohannes: 2015 Global Hunger Index - Armed Conflict and the Challenge of Hunger. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin: Welthungerhilfe, IFPRI, and Concern Worldwide. October 2015.
  22. K. von Grebmer, M. Torero, T. Olofinbiyi, H. Fritschel, D. Wiesmann, Y. Yohannes, L. Schofield, C. von Oppeln. 2011 Global Hunger Index - The Challenge of Hunger: Taming Price Spikes and Excessive Food Price Volatility. Bonn, Washington, DC, Dublin: IFRPI, Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
  23. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2013 The State of Food and Agriculture: Food Systems for Better Nutrition. Rome.
  24. Victora, C. G., L. Adair, C. Fall, P. C. Hallal, R. Martorell, L. Richter und H. Singh Sachdev for the Maternal and Child Undernutrition Study Group. 2008. Maternal and child undernutrition: Consequences for adult health and human capital. "The Lancet" 371 (9609): 340–57
  25. Victora, C. G., M. de Onis, P. C. Hallal, M. Blössner und R. Shrimpton. 2010. Worldwide timing of growth faltering: Revisiting implications for interventions. "Pediatrics" 125 (3): 473.
  26. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: 2010 Global Hunger Index The challenge of hunger: Focus on the crisis of child undernutrition. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2011.
  27. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, D. Nabarro, N. Prasai, S. Amin, Y. Yohannes, A. Sonntag, F. Patterson, O. Towey, and J. Thompson. 2016. 2016 Global Hunger Index: Getting to Zero Hunger. Bonn, Washington, DC, and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Concern Worldwide.
  28. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, N. Hossain, T. Brown, N. Prasai, Y. Yohannes, F. Patterson, A. Sonntag, S.-M. Zimmermann, O. Towey, C. Foley. 2017. 2017 Global Hunger Index: The Inequalities of Hunger. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute; Bonn: Welthungerhilfe; and Dublin: Concern Worldwide.
  29. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, L. Hammond, F. Patterson, A. Sonntag, L. Klaus, J. Fahlbusch, O. Towey, C. Foley, S. Gitter, K. Ekstrom, and H. Fritschel. 2018. 2018 Global Hunger Index: Forced Migration and Hunger. Bonn and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
  30. Compact2025: Ending hunger and undernutrition. 2015. Project Paper. IFPRI: Washington, DC.
  31. Citation error. See inline comment how to fix.
  32. K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, F. Patterson, M. Wiemers, R. Ní Chéilleachair, C. Foley, S. Gitter, K. Ekstrom, and H. Fritschel: 2019 Global Hunger Index - The Challenge of Hunger and Climate Change
  33. https://www.globalhungerindex.org/results.html
  34. https://www.globalhungerindex.org/about.html
  35. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2013 The State of Food and Agriculture: Food Systems for Better Nutrition. Rome.
  36. IFPRI/ Welthungerhilfe/ Concern. 2012. 2012 Global Hunger Index. Issue Brief No. 70. Washington, DC
  37. Victora, C. G., L. Adair, C. Fall, P. C. Hallal, R. Martorell, L. Richter und H. Singh Sachdev for the Maternal and Child Undernutrition Study Group. 2008. Maternal and child undernutrition: Consequences for adult health and human capital. "The Lancet" 371 (9609): 340–57
  38. Victora, C. G., M. de Onis, P. C. Hallal, M. Blössner und R. Shrimpton. 2010. Worldwide timing of growth faltering: Revisiting implications for interventions. "Pediatrics" 125 (3): 473.
  39. IFPRI/ Concern/ Welthungerhilfe: 2010 Global Hunger Index The challenge of hunger: Focus on the crisis of child undernutrition. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2011.
  40. Compact2025: Ending hunger and undernutrition. 2015. Project Paper. IFPRI: Washington, DC.

K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, R. Mukerji, F. Patterson, M. Wiemers, R. Ní Chéilleachair, C. Foley, S. Gitter, K. Ekstrom, and H. Fritschel. 2019. 2019 Global Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger and Climate Change. Bonn: Welthungerhilfe; and Dublin: Concern Worldwide.

    K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, L. Hammond, F. Patterson, A. Sonntag, L. Klaus, J. Fahlbusch, O. Towey, C. Foley, S. Gitter, K. Ekstrom, and H. Fritschel. 2018. 2018 Global Hunger Index: Forced Migration and Hunger. Bonn and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

      K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, N. Hossain, T. Brown, N. Prasai, Y. Yohannes, F. Patterson, A. Sonntag, S.-M. Zimmermann, O. Towey, C. Foley. 2017. 2017 Global Hunger Index: The Inequalities of Hunger. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute; Bonn: Welthungerhilfe; and Dublin: Concern Worldwide.

        K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, D. Nabarro, N. Prasai, S. Amin, Y. Yohannes, A. Sonntag, F. Patterson, O. Towey, and J. Thompson. 2016. 2016 Global Hunger Index - Getting to Zero Hunger. Bonn, Washington, DC, and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Concern Worldwide.

        1. Chapter 1: The Concept of the Global Hunger Index
        2. Chapter 1: The Concept of the Global Hunger Index
        3. Chapter 4: Policy Recommendations

        K. von Grebmer, J. Bernstein, A. de Waal, N. Prasai, S. Yin, Y. Yohannes: 2015 Global Hunger Index - Armed Conflict and the Challenge of Hunger. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin: Welthungerhilfe, IFPRI, and Concern Worldwide. October 2015.

        1. Chapter 3: Armed Conflict and the Challenge of Hunger: Is an End in Sight?

        K. von Grebmer; A. Saltzman; E. Birol; D. Wiesmann; N. Prasai; S. Yin; Y. Yohannes; P. Menon; J. Thompson; A. Sonntag. 2014. 2014 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hidden hunger. Bonn, Washington, DC, and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe, IFPRI, and Concern Worldwide.

        1. Chapter 3: Addressing the Challenge of Hidden Hunger
        2. Chapter 3: Addressing the Challenge of Hidden Hunger

        Prasai, Nilam. 2014. Global Hunger Index 2014: Interactive Tool Web application created with Tableau software 8.2. Retrieved from http://www.ifpri.org/tools/2014-ghi-map (access date). von Grebmer, Klaus; Headey, Derek; Béné, Christophe; Haddad, Lawrence; Olofinbiyi, Tolulope; Wiesmann, Doris; Fritschel, Heidi; Yin, Sandra; Yohannes, Yisehac; Foley, Connell; von Oppeln, Constanze; and Iseli, Bettina. 2013. 2013 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger: Building resilience to achieve food and nutrition security. Bonn, Washington, DC, and Dublin: Welthungerhilfe, IFPRI, and Concern Worldwide.

        1. Chapter 3: Understanding Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security
        2. Chapter 5: Policy Recommendations

        Klaus von Grebmer, Claudia Ringler, Mark W. Rosegrant, Tolulope Olofinbiyi, Doris Wiesmann, Heidi Fritschel, Ousmane Badiane, Maximo Torero, Yisehac Yohannes (IFPRI); Jennifer Thompson (Concern Worldwide); Constanze von Oppeln, Joseph Rahall (Welthungerhilfe and Green Scenery): 2012 Global Hunger Index - The challenge of hunger: Ensuring sustainable food security under land, water, and energy stresses. Washington, DC. October 2012.

        1. Chapter 3: 'Sustainable food security under land, water, and energy stresses', pages 25-26

        Klaus von Grebmer, Maximo Torero, Tolulope Olofinbiyi, Heidi Fritschel, Doris Wiesmann, Yisehac Yohannes (IFPRI); Lilly Schofield, Constanze von Oppeln (Concern Worldwide und Welthungerhilfe): 2011 Global Hunger Index - The challenge of hunger: Taming Price Spikes and Excessive Food Price Volatility. Bonn, Washington D. C., Dublin. October 2011.

        1. Chapter 3: Combating Hunger in a World of High and Volatile Food Prices
        2. Chapter 4: The Impacts of Food Price Spikes and Volatility at Local Levels, pages 20–41

        Further reading
        • Alkire, S. und M. E. Santos. 2010. Multidimensional Poverty Index: 2010 data. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. .
        • Wiesmann, Doris (2004): An international nutrition index: concept and analyses of food insecurity and undernutrition at country levels. Development Economics and Policy Series 39. Peter Lang Verlag.
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