Understanding the Global Hunger Index and Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022

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Hunger and Poverty 

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Global Multidimensional Poverty Index

  • The report was produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
  • It was first launched in 2010.
  • The index is a vital international resource that evaluates acute multidimensional poverty in over 100 developing countries.
  • The global MPI creates a deprivation profile for each household and person based on ten indicators covering health, education, and standard of living, and it includes both the incidence and intensity of poverty.
  • Within each dimension, all indicators are equally weighted.
  • A person is considered multidimensionally poor if she or he is deficient in one-third or more (that is, 33% or more) of the weighted indicators (out of the ten indicators). Extreme multidimensional poverty is defined as being deficient in one-half or more of the weighted indicators.
  • 1.2 billion people — 19.19% — live in acute multidimensional poverty across 111 countries. Almost half of them live in severe poverty. Half of the poor (593 million) are children under the age of 18.
  • According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic could set back the progress made in poverty reduction globally by 3–10 years.
  • However, the data does not reflect post-pandemic changes. According to the World Food Programme’s most recent food security data, the number of people living in food crises or worse increased to 193 million in 2021.
  • India has by far the most poor people in the world, with 22.8 crores, followed by Nigeria with 9.6 crores.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa has the most poor people (579 million), followed by South Asia (385 million). Together, the two regions are home to 83% of the poor.

Global Hunger Index

  • The Global Hunger Index (GHI) measures and tracks global, regional, and national hunger.
  • It is prepared jointly by the Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and the German organization Welthungerhilfe.
  • GHI scores are determined by the values of four component indicators:
    • Undernourishment (the proportion of the population with insufficient caloric intake),
    • Child stunting (the proportion of children under the age of five who have a low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition),
    • child wasting (acute undernutrition in children under the age of five with low weight for their height), and
    • Child mortality (the mortality rate of children under the age of five).
  • The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale, with zero representing no hunger and 100 representing severe hunger.
  • The GHI is an annual report, and each set of GHI scores is based on 5-year data. The GHI scores for 2022 are calculated using data from 2017 to 2021.
  • Global hunger progress has largely stalled and is expected to worsen due to overlapping global crises—conflict, climate change, and the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war, which has increased global fuel, food, and fertilizer prices and is expected to “worsen hunger in 2023 and beyond.”
  • In 2021, as many as 828 million people were undernourished.
  • Top and Worst Performers:
    • Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, China, and Croatia are the top five performers in GHI 2022.
    • The index’s bottom five countries are Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, the Central African Republic, and Yemen.
    • India and Neighboring Countries: Among the South Asian countries, India (107) is ranked below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99). With the exception of war-torn Afghanistan, India performed worse than all other South Asian countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022.

Hunger Hotspots Report

  • It is a joint report by Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme.
  • Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and other Horn of Africa countries are among the key hunger hotspots.
  • Acute Food Insecurity affects 222 million people in 53 countries/territories.
  • Key Drivers and Aggravating Factors: Conflict/insecurity, Displacement, Dry Conditions, Economic Shocks, Flood, Political Instability/unrest, and Tropical cyclone.

Source: Global Hunger Index and Multidimensional Poverty Index