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Data accuracy of the Global Hunger Index

Posted on March 23, 2021 by admin1  56

In News

The Union Minister of State for Agriculture questioned the methodology and data accuracy of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report.

About

  • Though India’s ranking in CHI improved from 102 in 2019 to 94 (out of 107 countries). In 2020 yet India was placed behind countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
  • Presently, with a score of 27.2, India comes in the ‘serious’ category.
  • The government has flagged its concerns with German organisation Welthungerhilfe on “appropriateness, accuracy and representativeness of data” used to calculate the level of hunger in India.
    • It was alleged that children considered healthy were also counted to determine the ranking.
    • Also, national surveys reflect India’s improving position as according to the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) 2017-18.

Claims India made

  • According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4, the percentage of wasted, stunted and malnourished children in 2015-16 stood at 21, 38.4 and 35.7, respectively.
  • As compared to NFHS-4 data, the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) compiled in 2017-18 showed an improvement of 4%, 3.7% and 2.3% in wasted, stunted and malnourished children respectively.

 

About Global Hunger Index

  • GHI is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide, an Ireland-based humanitarian group, and Welthungerhilfe, a Germany-based NGO.
  • It is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
  • GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger.
  • Methodology: Scores are based on the values of four component indicators:
    • Undernourishment (share of the population with insufficient caloric intake)
    • Child wasting (share of children under age 5 who have low weight for their height)
    • Child stunting (share of children under age 5 who have low height for their age)
    • Child mortality (mortality rate of children under age 5)
  • GHI is designed to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, provide a way to compare levels of hunger between countries and regions

 

                                           Image Source :Globalhungerindex.org

 

What is malnutrition?

  • Malnutrition indicates that children are either too short for their age or too thin.
  •  Children whose height is below the average for their age are considered to be stunted.
  • Similarly, children whose weight is below the average for their age are considered thin for their height or wasted. 
    • Together, the stunted and wasted children are considered to be underweight – indicating a lack of proper nutritional intake and inadequate care post-childbirth.

Causes of malnutrition

  • Agriculture output: The agriculture output from small and marginal holdings are either stagnant or declining due to reasons such as reduced soil fertility, fragmented lands or fluctuating market price of farm produce.
  • Low Income: Relative income of one section of people has been on the decline.
    • This has adverse effects on their capacity to buy adequate food, especially when food prices have been on the rise.
    • The kind of work a section of people have been doing are less remunerative or there is less opportunity to get remunerative work.
  • Public Distribution System (PDS): The public distribution system (PDS) of the state is not functioning well or is not accessible to everyone.
  • Rural Unemployment: The emaciated rural livelihoods sector and lack of income opportunities other than the farm sector have contributed heavily to the growing joblessness in rural areas.
    • The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 revealed that rural unemployment stood at a concerning 6.1 per cent, which was the highest since 1972-73.

Measures Taken to tackle Malnutrition

  • Various government initiatives have been launched over the years which seek to improve the nutrition status in the country.

Poshan Abhiyan

  • It was approved in 2017.
  • It is a multi-ministerial convergence mission with the vision to ensure the attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

  • It was launched on 2nd October 1975 and it represents one of the world’s largest and unique programmes for early childhood care and development.
  • The beneficiaries under the Scheme are children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers
  • Ministry of Women and Child Development is the implementing agency

Matritva Sahyog Yojana

  • Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) is a Conditional Maternity Benefit (CMB) Scheme launched in 2010.
  • The scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) as the centrally sponsored scheme.
  • It was launched for pregnant and lactating women to improve their health and nutrition status to better-enable the environment by providing cash incentives to pregnant and nursing mothers.

Mid-Day Meal Scheme

  • The Mid-day Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children
  • It covers all school students studying in classes 1 to 8 of government schools, government-aided schools, special training centres, including madrasas supported under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.

National Food Security Mission

  • It was launched in 2007-08  by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
  • It was based on the recommendations of the agriculture sub-committee of the National Development Council (NDC).
  • It focuses on the sustainable increase in the production of targeted crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement.

National Nutrition Mission

  • It is the government’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • Aim: To reduce stunting and wasting by 2% per year (total 6% until 2022) among children and anaemia by 3% per year (total 9% until 2022) among children, adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is the nodal ministry for implementation.

National Nutrition Strategy

  • The Strategy aims to reduce all forms of malnutrition by 2030, with a focus on the most vulnerable and critical age groups.
  •  The Strategy also aims to assist in achieving the targets identified as part of the Sustainable Development Goals related to nutrition and health.

Source :TH


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