The fact that Bangladesh has not gone down in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) is more important to note than the progress it has made with a rank up in the global hunger scenario. The country has been ranked 57th in 2014 GHI, showing an improvement in hunger level along with nine other countries. The other countries bracketed with Bangladesh in the improvement of their score points between the 1990 and the 2014 are Angola, Cambodia, Chad, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Thailand and Vietnam. The 2014 GHI report offers a multi-faceted picture of global hunger bringing new insights into the global debate on where to focus efforts in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
The GHI is designed to measure and track hunger globally, and by country and region. Calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provides insights into the root causes of hunger. By raising awareness and understanding of regional and country-specific characteristics of hunger, the GHI aims to trigger actions in the medium- and long-terms.
In order to reflect on the multi-dimensional nature of hunger, the 2014 GHI has examined levels of hunger in 120 developing countries and countries in transition, and scores them based on three equally weighted indicators. These include the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the mortality rate of children under five. The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger), and 100 is the worst.
The good news in this year's GHI is that the number of people going hungry has steadily decreased in most developing countries since 1990. Hunger in the developing world has fallen by 39 per cent, and 26 countries have reduced their scores by 50 per cent or more. On the other hand, the bad news is that levels of hunger are still 'alarming' in 14 countries, and 'extremely alarming' in two - Burundi and Eritrea.
The improvement in case of Bangladesh is largely attributed to the activities of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector and public safety net programmes run by the government, especially in reducing child mal-nutrition among the poorest. The GHI report mentions that Bangladesh has been able to cut back underweight in children from 62 per cent in 1990 to 37 per cent in 2011.
Although the 2014 GHI shows that hunger has been decreasing since 1990, one form of hunger that often remains overshadowed is hidden hunger, which affects some 2.0 billion people around the world. Hidden hunger is believed to weaken the immune system and stunt physical as well as intellectual growth, and can lead to death. It wreaks economic havoc as well, locking countries into cycles of poor nutrition, lost productivity, poverty, and reduced economic growth. Possible solutions to hidden hunger include food-based approaches that will require long-term, sustained, and coordinated efforts to make a lasting difference. Hidden hunger may, in other words, be seen as emerging from chronic malnutrition in most of the developing world.
Despite the progress made, there is perhaps no scope for respite given that 805 million people the world over continue to go hungry every year, according to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). As for Bangladesh, the comforting note brought about by the GHI gets paled by the fact that one-fourth of the country's population is still living without access to adequate food. This brings another grim reality into focus when one finds that food grain production in the country has grown manifold over the years. A Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) survey has revealed that around 40 per cent of the households in the country still live in food insecurity. The survey report also mentioned that members of most of these households often go without food or have to borrow to meet their want of food. The government-run programmes such as VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding) and OMS (Open Market Sale) are far too inadequate to feed the poorest in times of crisis.
The issue of hidden hunger identified in the GHI report - as equally disconcerting as hunger itself - may be a case for Bangladesh to grapple with, for a very long time. This may be seen as mostly manifested among other symptoms, as malnutrition. A recent study by the ministry of food on National Food Policy Plan of Action and Country Investment Plan shows that children affected by acute malnutrition in the country was around 16 per cent in 2011, which despite efforts on the part of the government and NGOs rose further by two percentage points in 2013. The report says the rate of acute malnutrition among children is alarmingly on rise, and that it is affecting both the low-income and the relatively well-off families. The report mentions that while poor families can not afford to meet even the basic dietary needs of their children, the well-off are unaware of the nutritional ingredients of the food they offer their children. Thus although hunger has reduced over the years, increasing malnutrition among the younger citizens sends an alarm signal overriding much of what has been achieved in curbing poverty and hunger. It may be pertinent to note that measuring hunger by some specific parameters is not always helpful. While addressing the drivers of hunger is important, equally important is to deal with the hidden hunger looming on the earth in varying shapes and forms.
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