KUVERA CHALISE
KATHMANDU: Nepal has improved in the Global Hunger Index. But this still gives one lots of food for thought.
Though Nepal has improved its score to 19.9 from 23 last year, it has managed to climb up just one category — from alarming to serious level of hunger situation. It ranks 33rd among seriously hunger affected countries and 55th in the overall GHI which has ranked 81 nations this year.
Nonetheless, the country is on a winning path in its fight against hunger. In 1990, the country had a score of 27.1, in 1996, 24.6 and in 2010 it further came down, reflecting an improving situation.
“From food deficit situation in 2009, the country recorded 4,43,000 metric tonnes of foodgrains surplus in the last fiscal years,” said Hari Dahal, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Despite the positive trend, the global fight against hunger is not reaching its goals fast enough, states GHI, adding some 29 countries still have an alarming (20-29.9) or extremely alarming (over 30) hunger situation.
When it comes to South Asia, despite economic growth between 1990 and 1996, the scores in the region have not changed much.
The major problem in the South Asian region is high prevalence of underweight children under five, which is attributed to lower nutrition and women’s educational status.
Though South Asia shares the highest regional GHI scores with Sub-Saharan Africa — 21.7 and 22.9 respectively — food insecurity in these two regions stems from different reasons.
Though Nepal has improved its score to 19.9 from 23 last year, it has managed to climb up just one category — from alarming to serious level of hunger situation. It ranks 33rd among seriously hunger affected countries and 55th in the overall GHI which has ranked 81 nations this year.
Nonetheless, the country is on a winning path in its fight against hunger. In 1990, the country had a score of 27.1, in 1996, 24.6 and in 2010 it further came down, reflecting an improving situation.
“From food deficit situation in 2009, the country recorded 4,43,000 metric tonnes of foodgrains surplus in the last fiscal years,” said Hari Dahal, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Despite the positive trend, the global fight against hunger is not reaching its goals fast enough, states GHI, adding some 29 countries still have an alarming (20-29.9) or extremely alarming (over 30) hunger situation.
When it comes to South Asia, despite economic growth between 1990 and 1996, the scores in the region have not changed much.
The major problem in the South Asian region is high prevalence of underweight children under five, which is attributed to lower nutrition and women’s educational status.
Though South Asia shares the highest regional GHI scores with Sub-Saharan Africa — 21.7 and 22.9 respectively — food insecurity in these two regions stems from different reasons.
What is GHI?
KATHMANDU: The International Food Policy Research Institute calculates the Global Hunger Index every year. GHI is a multidimensional statistical tool used to describe the state of countries’ hunger situation. The index also measures progress and failures in the global fight against hunger. It calculates the countries on a 100 point scale, with zero being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst, though neither of these extremes is achieved in practice. The lower the score, the better the food situation of a country.
Source; THE HIMALAYAN TIMES
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