With 15 per cent of the country’s population ‘undernourished’, India has been ranked 97 out of 118 countries on the 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) released on Tuesday by International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI).
At 97th position, India is behind other South Asian countries like Nepal (72), Sri Lanka (84) and Bangladesh (90).
However, India is ahead of Pakistan which has been ranked 107th on the Global Hunger Index.
China, at 29th position, is way ahead of all other South Asian countries.
India was ranked 80 out of 104 countries the previous year.
The 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) suggests that 38.7 per cent of Indian children under five years of age are stunted due to lack of food.
According to the authors of the Global Hunger Index (GHI), if the current rate of decline continues, more than 45 countries — including India, Pakistan, Haiti, Yemen, and Afghanistan — will have “moderate” to “alarming” hunger scores in the year 2030.
The report further states that although the hunger levels in developing countries have fallen 29 per cent since 2000, the efforts to curb hunger must be accelerated in order to meet an international target to eradicate it by 2030.
According to the report, hunger levels are "alarming" in seven countries, with Central African Republic (CAR), Chad and Zambia experiencing the worst levels.
The Index further points out that another 43 countries, including India, Nigeria and Indonesia, have “serious” hunger levels.
“Ending global hunger is certainly possible, but it's up to all of us ... (to) set the priorities right to ensure that governments, the private sector and civil society devote the time and resources necessary,” Shenggen Fan, director general of the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said in a statement.
World leaders had agreed on a 2030 deadline for ending global hunger last year as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - an ambitious plan for tackling poverty, hunger and inequality.
