Country ranks 70th in Global Hunger Index

FE Report Bangladesh ranks 70th among 122 countries in the recently published Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2011 by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). AFPRI used a number of different indicators to measure hunger. To project the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI combines three equally weighted indicators -- Undernourishment, Child Underweight and Child Mortality that reflect hunger situation at both global and national scales. The GHI 2011 revealed that Bangladesh has 5.2 per cent under five mortality rate, while the proportion of undernourished people in the country is 27 per cent and the underweight children under five years' age is 41.33 per cent. The index also categorizes the hunger situation in Bangladesh as "alarming". Although Bangladesh along with nine other countries including India, Haiti and Angola has moved up from the "most alarming" to the "alarming" category, it is still among the 26 countries at the bottom in the GHI 2011. Published on Tuesday, the GHI 2011 shows Bangladesh scored 24.5, up by 0.23 points than the last year's score when the position was 68. A higher score in the index indicates graver situation. The GHI 2011 states that excessive food price volatility has become the major challenge in respect of hunger in the world. "The food price crisis of 2007-08 saw a steep rise in food prices that brought food security to the forefront of global attention. Then, in June 2010 food prices started rising again; between June 2010 and May 2011 the international prices of maize and wheat roughly doubled," said the report. However, in contrast with the spiralling prices of maize and wheat in the international market, rice price showed a downtrend over the last two years, according to the report.