Syllabus: GS 2 – Issues relating to Poverty and Hunger
Source: The Hindu – 4/09/2023
Content:
Global Hunger Index(GHI)
- The Global Hunger Index is an annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.
- The GHI scores are based on the values of four component indicators: Undernourishment, Child stunting, Child wasting, and Child mortality.
- Based on the values of the four indicators, a GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger, where 0 is the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. Each country’s GHI score is classified by severity, from low to extremely alarming.
Hunger: Hunger is an uncomfortable or painful physical sensation caused by insufficient consumption of dietary energy. It becomes chronic when the person does not consume a sufficient amount of calories (dietary energy) on a regular basis to lead a normal, active and healthy life.
Undernutrition: Undernutrition goes beyond calories and signifies deficiencies in any or all of the following: energy, protein, and/ or essential vitamins and minerals. Undernutrition is the result of inadequate intake of food in terms of either quantity or quality, poor utilization of nutrients due to infections or other illnesses, or a combination of these immediate causes.
Malnutrition : It refers more broadly to both undernutrition (problems caused by deficiencies) and overnutrition (problems caused by unbalanced diets that involve consuming too many calories in relation to requirements, with or without low intake of micronutrient-rich foods). Overnutrition, resulting in overweight, obesity, and noncommunicable diseases, is increasingly common throughout the world, with implications for human health, government expenditures, and food systems development. While overnutrition is an important concern, the GHI focuses specifically on issues relating to undernutrition.
GHI 2022 – Status of India
- In the 2022 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 107th out of the 121 countries. With a score of 29.1, India has a level of hunger that is serious.
Criticisms regarding GHI
- The Indian government has disputed GHI conclusions by raising concerns about the data and methodology used in calculating the GHI.
- The index overstates the level of hunger and is not statistically sound.
- The index uses indicators that are not solely influenced by a lack of food and suffers from the issue of double counting.
- The index places too much emphasis on children under the age of five.
- The index is plagued by poorly defined and inadequate data, as well as a lack of conceptual clarity.
- The index focuses government attention on cross-national comparisons, which can sometimes lead to the dismissal of underlying issues and derail public discourse.
- The index fails to take into account government efforts to ensure food security for its population, particularly during the Covid pandemic.
- The index is based on an opinion poll.
State Hunger Index (SHI)
- The India State Hunger Index (ISHI) is a tool to calculate hunger and malnutrition at the regional level in India. It is constructed in the same fashion as the Global Hunger Index (GHI) and was calculated for 17 states in India, covering more than 95 percent of the population.
- An India specific hunger index at the level of States and Union Territories helps evaluate the extent of undernourishment at a more localized scale.
- The State Hunger Index (SHI) is calculated using the same indicators except calorie undernourishment, which is replaced by body mass index (BMI) undernourishment among the working age population.
- Data for stunting, wasting, and mortality among children below the age of five are sourced from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5).
- In the SHI, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh scored 35, which places them in the ‘alarming’ category.
- Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Maharashtra, and West Bengal all scored above the national average (29). The performance of these States resembles that of African nations such as Haiti, Niger, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
- On the other hand, Chandigarh scored 12, and Sikkim, Puducherry, and Kerala all scored below 16. These States, along with Manipur, Mizoram, Punjab, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Tamil Nadu, fall under the ‘moderate hunger’ category.
- All the other States, which scored below the national average and above 20, have a problem of ‘serious hunger’. No State falls under the ‘low hunger’ category.
Body mass index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. BMI is an inexpensive and easy screening method for weight category — underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obesity. A high BMI can indicate high body fatness. BMI screens for weight categories that may lead to health problems, but it does not diagnose the body fatness or health of an individual.
Govt initiatives to tackle Hunger
- National Nutrition Mission (NNM) or POSHAN Abhiyan: It was launched in 2018 to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner and to achieve reduction in stunting and wasting in children (0-6 years) as well as reduction in anemia in women, children and adolescent girls.
- National Food Security Mission: The main objective of the National Food Security Mission is to increase the production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse serials, and Nutri serials through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner.
- Zero Hunger Programme: It has established specific goals to be accomplished by 2030, encompassing various aspects of hunger, food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture.
- Eat Right India Movement: FSSAI launched ‘The Eat Right Movement’to improve public health in India and combat negative nutritional trends to fight lifestyle diseases
- Food Fortification: It means deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health. In India, A total of 151 Districts (in 24 States) have already lifted fortified rice under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in Phase II of Rice Fortification Programme.
Why does India struggle to battle hunger?
- Food availability: Hunger persists due to failures in food entitlements.
- Food accessibility: The availability of food in markets does not guarantee its accessibility to those without sufficient purchasing power.
- Nutritional deficiencies: The poor have reduced their consumption of more expensive, nutrient-rich foods, exacerbating the undernutrition crisis.
- Regional disparities: Hunger and malnutrition vary across regions, reflecting uneven economic development.
- Poverty: Poverty and hunger are closely linked, and addressing poverty is necessary to reduce hunger.
- Governance issues: Effective governance is needed to implement policies and programs to address malnutrition.
- Lack of coordination: A comprehensive and coordinated approach is needed from state governments to address malnutrition.
- Limited civil society engagement: Civil society must also play a role in addressing malnutrition.
- Intergenerational impact : Malnutrition has intergenerational impacts, with undernourished mothers more likely to give birth to underweight or stunted children.
Way Forward
- Put inclusive governance and accountability at the center of efforts to transform food systems.
- Ensure citizens’ participation, action, and oversight, and consider the local context.
- Scale up resources to address pressing humanitarian needs, while transforming food systems to make them resilient to shocks.
Related topics
NFHS- 5 (National Family Health Survey) Key Highlights (2019-21)
- The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level.
- Around 23.3% of women surveyed got married before attaining the legal age of 18 years.
- Domestic violence has come down marginally from 31.2% in 2015-16 to 29.3% in 2019-21.
- Institutional Births have increased from 79% to 89% .
- About 77% of children aged 12-23 months were fully immunized.
- The level of stunting among children under five years has marginally declined from 38% to 36% in the country since the last four years.
- One third of children under the age of five are stunted and underweight, while every fifth child suffers from wasting.
- It also shows an overall improvement in Sustainable Development Goals indicators in all States/Union Territories (UTs).
NSS 78th Round Report Key Highlights
- ICT skills are grossly deficient with only one in three 15-24-year-olds in rural India able to copy or move a file or folder.
- Report also highlights the challenges of migration. 26.8% rural and 34.6% urban persons report their current place of residence as different from the last usual place of residence.
- 92.5% rural households report availability of all-weather roads within 2 kilometers from the place of living.
- 89.3% of 18+ persons, even in rural areas, have an individual or a joint account in any Bank/other financial institution/mobile money service provider.
- The use of LPG for cooking has increased but only 49.8% households in rural India report its usage as the primary source of energy for cooking.
Reference:
- https://indianexpress.com/about/global-hunger-index/
- https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/economy/policy/how-national-sample-survey-helps-govt-programmes-by-being-a-source-of-quality-data/amp_articleshow/99345876.cms
- Global Hunger Index Report,2022
- NFHS-5 Report
Practice Question –
Analyze the current state of hunger in India across different states. What are the possible challenges that India faces in its battle against hunger? Discuss the measures that can be taken to address this issue. (250 words)