The Nepal Weekly 
October 18, 2022Nepal has attained second position in the recently released Global Hunger Index 2022 just behind Sri Lanka in the list among South Asian states. It means that Nepal is one of the countries least affected by hunger in South Asia region.
India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022 with its child wasting rate at 19.3 per cent, being the highest in the world. The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
With a score of 29.1, the level of hunger in India has been labelled “serious”. In Asia, Afghanistan with a rank of 109 is the only country behind India. Neighbouring countries – Pakistan (99), Bangladesh (84), Nepal (81) and Sri Lanka (64) have all fared better than India.
In 2021, India ranked 101 out of 116 countries while in 2020 the country was placed at 94th position. South Asia, the region with the world’s highest hunger level, has the highest child stunting rate and by far the highest child wasting rate in the world, according to the report.
“India’s child wasting rate, at 19.3 per cent, is the highest of any country in the world and drives up the region’s average owing to India’s large population,” it said. India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan each have child stunting rates between 35 and 38 per cent, with Afghanistan’s rate being the highest in the region. Nepal’s child wasting rate stands at 12 per cent which is moderate.
