Government questions methodology and data accuracy of Global Hunger Index:

Topics Covered: Issues of buffer stocks and food security.

Government questions methodology and data accuracy of Global Hunger Index:

Context:

The government has questioned the methodology and data accuracy of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, alleging that children considered healthy were also counted to determine the ranking.

The government has already written to NGO Welthungerhilfe, which compiles the report, expressing concerns about their methodology, data accuracy and sample size and was yet to hear from them.

What’s the issue?

In the latest report, India was ranked below countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar when it was among the top 10 food-producing countries in the world.

India was ranked at the 94th position out of 107 countries that were studied.

What is Global Hunger Index?

The report is a peer-reviewed publication released annually by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

It tracks hunger at global, regional and national levels.

How are Countries ranked?

The GHI scores are based on a formula that captures three dimensions of hunger—insufficient caloric intake, child undernutrition, and child mortality—using four component indicators:

UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population that is under-nourished, reflecting insufficient caloric intake
CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (low weight-for-height), reflecting acute undernutrition.
CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (low height-for-age), reflecting chronic undernutrition.
CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of five.

Score:

The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst. Values less than 10 reflect low hunger, values from 20 to 34.9 indicate serious hunger; values from 35 to 49.9 are alarming; and values of 50 or more are extremely alarming.

Key findings:

India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition.
The report put India under serious category with the score of 27.2.
In the region of the south, east, and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, and North Korea.
The child stunting rate in India was 37.4 %.
The child wasting was at 17.3 %.
The undernourishment rate of India was at 14% and child mortality at 3.7 %.

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