Global Hunger Index: basis for cross country comparison

How do countries rank in terms of hunger and undernutrition?

This report summarises the International Food Policy Research Center’s (IFPRI) Global Hunger Index (GHI). It presents current country rankings and trends, discusses causes of hunger and undernutrition, while also highlighting points for action. The GHI captures three dimensions of hunger:

insufficient availability of food
shortfalls in the nutritional status of children
child mortality.

By using a composite index, the report argues that the GHI is able to integrate different aspects of hunger and nutrition reducing the impact of random measurement errors as well as facilitating the use of statistics by policymakers and the public.

The GHI finds that the current hotspots for hunger and under nutrition are located in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa with Haiti, Yemen, Tajikistan, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and the Democratic Republic of Korea also recording high GHI values.

The report highlights how countries that have experienced long lasting violent conflict and/or have a high HIV/AIDS prevelance rate, have high GHI scores, indicating poor outcomes in hunger and nutrition.

The report recommends areas for public action which are tailored to the specific needs of each context. This includes improved female educational opportunities in South Asia and social protection mechanisms as well as interventions in agriculture, public health, and nutrition to combat HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to alleviate food shortages, the report recommends increases in agricultural productivity, higher investments in rural infrastructure, water and land management, marketing, and farmers’ education.

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Global Hunger Index: basis for cross country comparison