India ranks 94th among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report for 2020 and continues to be in the ‘severe’ hunger category.
According to the study, 14 percent of India’s population is undernourished.
Last year, India’s GHI rank was 102 out of 117 countries. In 2018, India ranked 103 among 119 countries.
In its latest report, GHI puts worldwide hunger at a "moderate" level but warns that nearly 690 million people across the world are undernourished.
India scored 27.2 out of 50, where the 2020 Global Hunger Index report terms the level of hunger in India as serious.
India's position is lower than most of its neighbours – Pakistan (88th position), Nepal (73), Bangladesh (75), Sri Lanka (64), and Myanmar (78). Afghanistan came in the 99th position faring behind India. The statistics for Bhutan are not available.
The GHI report 2020 also revealed that South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara have the worst hunger conditions among global regions.
"Data from 1991 through 2014 for Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan showed that stunting is concentrated among children from households facing multiple forms of deprivation, including poor dietary diversity, low levels of maternal education, and household poverty,” the report has said.
India experienced a decline in under-five mortality between 2000 and 2018, "driven largely by decreases in deaths from birth asphyxia or trauma, neonatal infections, pneumonia, and diarrhoea,” it said.
“Prevention of prematurity and low birthweight is identified as a key factor with the potential to reduce under-five mortality in India through actions such as better antenatal care, education, and nutrition as well as reductions in anaemia and oral tobacco use,” the report added.
The GHI comprehensively measures and tracks hunger at the global, regional, and national levels. Data from the United Nations and other multilateral agencies are used for its calculation.
