Hunger in many developing countries decreasing but still massive challenges ahead, say report authors
2014 Global Hunger Index records significant progress tackling hunger in developing countries.
A global commitment as part of the post-2015 development framework, to empower communities with access to quality nutrition including fruit and vegetables, is vital say the authors of the 2014 Global Hunger Index.
However, the study of global food insecurity calls on the international community to sign up to a clear strategy to eliminate hunger and malnutrition, that continues to affect millions of people worldwide.
The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released for the ninth year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and humanitarian aid organisations Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide, highlights some good news in that the number of people going hungry has been steadily decreasing in most developing countries.
Since 1990, hunger in the developing world has fallen by 39 per cent, and 26 countries have reduced their scores by 50 per cent or more.
Bangladesh, Angola, Cambodia, Ghana, Chad, Malawi, Rwanda, Niger, Thailand, and Vietnam have seen the greatest improvements, the authors note, since 1990.
Since 1990, 26 countries reduced their scores by 50 per cent or more.
Compared to the 1990 GHI score, the 2014 score is 28 per cent lower in Africa south of the Sahara, 41 per cent lower in South Asia, and 40 per cent lower in the Middle East and North Africa. The score for Latin America and the Caribbean saw a drop of 53 per cent with progress also in Eastern Europe and other areas.
This year’s GHI includes provisional data from India on underweight in children under five, for the first time in eight years. Improvements in this indicator show underweight in children fell by almost 13 per cent between 2005 to 2006 and 2013 to 2014.
However, millions of people continue to suffer from hunger worldwide according to the Index, and levels of hunger are still “alarming” in 14 countries, and “extremely alarming” in two: Burundi and Eritre.
“We are excited to see that there are improvements in India and also globally,” says Shenggen Fan, IFPRI’s director general.
“The GHI shows that hunger has been decreasing since 1990, but there is much more to be done to address hunger, including hidden hunger, to ensure food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable.”
The Index highlights now hunger in many developing countries is decreasing but the scale of the problem globally is still shocking, and a lack of access to quality food, hidden hunger is a massive cause for concern.
A staggering 2 billion people are undernourished, i.e. they are failing to get enough essential vitamins and minerals from the foods they eat.
“Particularly in countries facing a high burden of malnutrition, hidden hunger goes hand in hand with other forms of malnutrition and cannot be addressed in isolation,” says Welthungerhilfe president Bärbel Dieckmann.
“In the long-term, people cannot break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition without being granted the basic right to nutritious food.”
Undernutrition and malnutrition weakens the immune system, stunts physical growth, and can lead to death. It wreaks economic havoc too, locking countries into cycles of poor nutrition, lost productivity, poverty, and reduced economic growth. Also, such deficiencies in micronutrients are often harder to detect but devastating in their impact.
The 2014 GHI examines levels of hunger in 120 developing countries and countries in transition and scores them based on three equally weighted indicators: the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the mortality rate of children under five.
While great progress has been made to feed the world, 805 million people are still chronically undernourished because they don’t get enough to eat. Yet even those who eat enough calories can suffer from hidden hunger, a critical aspect of hunger and nutrition that needs more attention says the report.
The authors highlight the need to step up investment in programmes that enable the production of diverse crops and ensure the availability of nutrient-rich foods, including fruits and vegetables, to not only save lives in the current generation but make an investment for the future generation too.
“The great news is that we have clear evidence proving that investing in nutrition is one of the smartest development investments we can make...” says Dominic MacSorley, CEO of Concern Worldwide.
Preventing and treating hidden hunger requires action from the global to the national level in many sectors including agriculture, health, water and sanitation, social protection, education, and empowering women, say the partners.
The authors call on the global community to ensure that the post-2015 development framework includes a universal goal to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms, and clear mechanisms to ensure accountability.
Charity News every weekday
Written and edited in London and Geneva All Xperedon news articles are original and are written by the Xperedon news team. The team is headed in the UK by Alan Cole, an experienced award-winning journalist and copywriter. Alan has previously worked in-house for UK publishers, Pearson Media (Financial Times) and Northcliffe Newspapers, among others, and is an accredited member of the National Union of Journalists, UK.
Source: http://www.xperedon.com/news/2936/hunger-report-ngo-s-global-appeal.html
2014 Global Hunger Index records significant progress tackling hunger in developing countries.
A global commitment as part of the post-2015 development framework, to empower communities with access to quality nutrition including fruit and vegetables, is vital say the authors of the 2014 Global Hunger Index.
However, the study of global food insecurity calls on the international community to sign up to a clear strategy to eliminate hunger and malnutrition, that continues to affect millions of people worldwide.
The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released for the ninth year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and humanitarian aid organisations Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide, highlights some good news in that the number of people going hungry has been steadily decreasing in most developing countries.
Since 1990, hunger in the developing world has fallen by 39 per cent, and 26 countries have reduced their scores by 50 per cent or more.
Bangladesh, Angola, Cambodia, Ghana, Chad, Malawi, Rwanda, Niger, Thailand, and Vietnam have seen the greatest improvements, the authors note, since 1990.
Since 1990, 26 countries reduced their scores by 50 per cent or more.
Compared to the 1990 GHI score, the 2014 score is 28 per cent lower in Africa south of the Sahara, 41 per cent lower in South Asia, and 40 per cent lower in the Middle East and North Africa. The score for Latin America and the Caribbean saw a drop of 53 per cent with progress also in Eastern Europe and other areas.
This year’s GHI includes provisional data from India on underweight in children under five, for the first time in eight years. Improvements in this indicator show underweight in children fell by almost 13 per cent between 2005 to 2006 and 2013 to 2014.
However, millions of people continue to suffer from hunger worldwide according to the Index, and levels of hunger are still “alarming” in 14 countries, and “extremely alarming” in two: Burundi and Eritre.
“We are excited to see that there are improvements in India and also globally,” says Shenggen Fan, IFPRI’s director general.
“The GHI shows that hunger has been decreasing since 1990, but there is much more to be done to address hunger, including hidden hunger, to ensure food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable.”
The Index highlights now hunger in many developing countries is decreasing but the scale of the problem globally is still shocking, and a lack of access to quality food, hidden hunger is a massive cause for concern.
A staggering 2 billion people are undernourished, i.e. they are failing to get enough essential vitamins and minerals from the foods they eat.
“Particularly in countries facing a high burden of malnutrition, hidden hunger goes hand in hand with other forms of malnutrition and cannot be addressed in isolation,” says Welthungerhilfe president Bärbel Dieckmann.
“In the long-term, people cannot break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition without being granted the basic right to nutritious food.”
Undernutrition and malnutrition weakens the immune system, stunts physical growth, and can lead to death. It wreaks economic havoc too, locking countries into cycles of poor nutrition, lost productivity, poverty, and reduced economic growth. Also, such deficiencies in micronutrients are often harder to detect but devastating in their impact.
The 2014 GHI examines levels of hunger in 120 developing countries and countries in transition and scores them based on three equally weighted indicators: the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the mortality rate of children under five.
While great progress has been made to feed the world, 805 million people are still chronically undernourished because they don’t get enough to eat. Yet even those who eat enough calories can suffer from hidden hunger, a critical aspect of hunger and nutrition that needs more attention says the report.
The authors highlight the need to step up investment in programmes that enable the production of diverse crops and ensure the availability of nutrient-rich foods, including fruits and vegetables, to not only save lives in the current generation but make an investment for the future generation too.
“The great news is that we have clear evidence proving that investing in nutrition is one of the smartest development investments we can make...” says Dominic MacSorley, CEO of Concern Worldwide.
Preventing and treating hidden hunger requires action from the global to the national level in many sectors including agriculture, health, water and sanitation, social protection, education, and empowering women, say the partners.
The authors call on the global community to ensure that the post-2015 development framework includes a universal goal to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms, and clear mechanisms to ensure accountability.
Charity News every weekday
Written and edited in London and Geneva All Xperedon news articles are original and are written by the Xperedon news team. The team is headed in the UK by Alan Cole, an experienced award-winning journalist and copywriter. Alan has previously worked in-house for UK publishers, Pearson Media (Financial Times) and Northcliffe Newspapers, among others, and is an accredited member of the National Union of Journalists, UK.
Source: http://www.xperedon.com/news/2936/hunger-report-ngo-s-global-appeal.html
