The most recent Global Hunger Index (GHI) indicates that the fight against hunger in numerous underdeveloped countries shows signs of stagnation with predictions stating that it could be an issue for another 136 years given the current rate of progress since 2016. The 2024 GHI, presented on Thursday, revealed that at least 64 countries are not expected to decrease hunger levels to a minimal limit by the year 2160.
Hunger status in 42 nations are categorised as “serious” or “alarming,” with efforts to mitigate the issue experiencing limited growth. Furthermore, the previous year’s conflicts have resulted in unprecedented food crises and the looming threat of famine in regions including Gaza and Sudan, with North Darfur already experiencing famine according to GHI.
This latest report by the German aid agency Welthungerhilfe and Irish humanitarian organisation Concern Worldwide starkly highlights that the objective of eradicating hunger by 2030, a sustainable development goal set by UN member states in 2012, seems quite bleak.
Employing a 100-point hunger severity scale, the GHI, now in its 19th year, scores countries based on factors such as undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and the proportion of children who don’t live to see their fifth birthday, owing to a lethal combination of poor nutrition and unsafe environments.
Out of 136 countries evaluated, 36 display serious levels of hunger while hunger levels in six countries at the bottom of the index, including Somalia, Yemen, Chad, Madagascar, Burundi and South Sudan are described as alarming. This indicator suggests widespread deprivation, undernourishment, and malnutrition.
In 2023, a substantial 281.6 million people in 59 different countries and territories, including Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Burkina Faso, grappled with crisis-level or severe food insecurity. The 2024 data shows South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa as the regions most impacted by hunger.
The report underscores significant strides made in hunger reduction from 2000 to 2016, demonstrating what a span of 15 years can accomplish. However, it highlights that this advancement has been decelerating. “The latest GHI report details are terribly concerning and distressing,” remarked David Regan, CEO of Concern. “It is unacceptable that the world has to wait for over 136 years to witness low levels of hunger. More needs to happen to assure everyone’s right to food, thus enabling early famine prevention and malnutrition treatment.”
Regan added, “We should never encounter circumstances where hunger and malnutrition incapacitate children to the point they cannot express their distress.”
Worldwide, around 733 million individuals endure hunger daily due to inadequate food access, while approximately 2.8 billion people are unable to afford a nutritious diet.
Regan commented on these shocking figures, “It’s deeply disheartening that hunger continues to persist at such an immense scale, given the resources available in today’s world. It’s equally disturbing that the progress made in combating hunger has largely come to a halt due to prevalent conflicts and escalating effects of climate change. We’re seeing a rise in acute food insecurity and famine risk, in conjunction with an increase in the usage of starvation as a war tactic.”
The report delineates the connections between gender disparity, food scarcity, and climate change, illustrating how these issues interlace and exert extreme pressures on households, communities, and entire countries.
Regan said, “Inequality is exponentially magnified in conditions of extreme impoverishment. Governments need to commit to and champion gender equality and climate change. They also need to acknowledge and fulfil the right to food, ensuring that every individual is granted their food entitlement.”