State of Global Hunger: Global Hunger Index 2010

It has been suggested that global hunger, rather than being halved in pursuit of the Millennium Development goals is actually getting worse. However, according to the 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI),  published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI),  hunger and food security in many nations has not changed over the last decade.

The GHI is calculated for 122 developing and transition countries countries and it’s rates are based on three equally weighted indicators: the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the child mortality rate. Twenty-nine countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, have levels of hunger that are "extremely alarming" or "alarming." Of the nine countries in which hunger levels rose eight were in Africa, including: Liberia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). North Korea was the only country outside Africa to show an increase in hunger levels, which has been blamed on negative trends in economic growth and food production.

The report claimed that "the high prevalence of child under-nutrition is a major contributor to persistent hunger," the biggest contributor to the global figure, accounting for almost half of the score.

Addressing issues during pregnancy and the first two years of life could provide critical opportunities for preventing future health problems among children, as undernourishment during early childhood (those first two years) can cause irreversible, long-term damage.

“In order to improve individual GPI scores “countries must accelerate progress in reducing child malnutrition. Considerable research shows that the window of opportunity for improving nutrition spans from conception to age two. After age two, the negative effects of under-nutrition are largely irreversible" said Marie Ruel, director of IFPRI's poverty, health and nutrition division and co-author of the report. Furthermore, the need to attend to the health of all women, but specifically mothers was also highlighted as “crucial to reducing child malnutrition” by Bärbel Dieckmann, the chair of the German NGO Welthungerhilfe, who explained that “Mothers who were poorly nourished as girls tend to give birth to underweight babies, perpetuating the cycle of under-nutrition.”  The report estimated that the burden of child undernutrition could be cut by 25-36 percent by providing universal preventive health services and nutrition interventions for children under two and their mothers during pregnancy and lactation.

While major gains have been made over the last 20 years in reducing hunger and undernourishment (hunger levels fell by one quarter), the number of hungry people has recently begun to rise. The report defines world hunger levels as "serious" and notes that recent spikes in food prices has pushed the number of undernourished people in the world beyond one billion.

To download the Data, click here.