Alliance2015 launched the 14th edition of the GHI, the Global Hunger Index, on 21 October, in the occasion of a roundtable organised with IEEP (Institute for European Environmental Policy) on ‘Hunger & Climate Change: Linked Problems, Linked Solutions’.
The 2019 Global Hunger Index report (GHI)—the 14th in an annual series—presents a multidimensional measure of global, regional, and national hunger. The latest data available show that while we have made progress in reducing hunger on a global scale since 2000, we still have a long way to go. Of the 117 countries with GHI scores, levels of hunger are still serious or alarming in 47 countries and extremely alarming in one country. This year’s report focuses on climate change—an increasingly relevant threat to the world’s hungry and vulnerable people that requires immediate action.
The index is a statistical tool for collecting data on famine in the world and malnutrition in various countries. The German NGO Welthungerhilfe and the Irish Concern Worldwide, European partners in the Alliance2015 network, collaborate in the annual production. The Italian edition is curated by Cesvi, which has seen to the last nine publications.
The index classifies the countries on a scale of 100 points, where 0 represents the best possible value (absence of hunger) and 100 the worst. The higher the value the worse is the state of nutrition of a country. Values below 4.9 show a very low incidence of hunger, while from 5 to 9.9 the value is moderate. Values from 10 to 19.9 show up a serious situation of hunger, while values from 20 to 29.9 the situation is alarming. Above 30 the problem of hunger is to be considered extremely alarming.
The GHI combines four indicators:
- the percentage of population that is undernourished;
- the percentage of children under five that are emaciated, (inadequate ratio between weight and height);
- the percentage of children under five with growth delay (inadequate ratio between height and age);
- mortality rate for children under five.
For Alliance2015 key messages and recommendations to policy-makers, click here.
The Global Hunger Index consists of:
