India Tops world Hunger Chart: WFP Report.

[With 230 million undernourished, it account for 27% of the Global Total]





India tops World Hunger Chart: WFP Report. by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

India’s position on the health front has been found to be shocking as per a report brought out by the United Nations world Food Programme (WFP).It finds its 230 million rural poor as undernourished, the highest for any country in the world. Malnutrition accounts for nearly 50% of child deaths in India as every third adult (aged 15-49 years) is reported to be below normal in health standards.
The position of food security in rural India is so much disappointing that more than 1-5 million children are at the risk of becoming malnourished because of rising food prices.
The report said that while general inflation declined from a 13 year high exceeding 12% in July 2008 to less than 5% by the end of January 2009, the inflation for food articles doubled from 5% to over 115 during the same period.
Food grain harvest during 2008-09 is estimated to be a record 228 million tonnes. However, requirement for national population would exceed 250 million tonnes by 20015.


India Tops world Hunger Chart: WFP Report.

India rank 94th in the Global Hunger Index of 119 countries, the report said. It says that more than 27% of the world’s undernourished population lives in India while 43% of children (under 5 years) in the country are underweight.
The figure is among the highest in the world and is much higher than the global average of 25% and also higher than sub-Saharan Africa’s figure of 28%.
Food For Thought
 More than 230 million people in India are undernourished –highest for any country in the world.
 More 27% of the world’s undernourished population lives in India. 43% of children (under 5 years) in the country are underweight compared to the global proportion of 25% and 28% in Sub-Saharan African.
 Every second child in the country is stunted.
 30% of babies in India are born under-weight.
 Malnutrition accounts for nearly 50% of child deaths.
 Every third adult (aged 15-49 years) in the country is reported to be thin (BMI less than 18.5)70% of children (under-5) suffer from anemia.
 More than 1.5 million children in India are at risk of becoming malnourished because of rising global food prices.
 Food grain harvest during 2008-09 is estimated to be 228 million metric tonnes.
 The requirement for the national population would exceed 250 millon mt by 2015.
More than 70% children (under 5) suffer from anemia and 80% of them don’t get Vitamin supplements. Percentage of women with chronic energy deficiency is stagnant at 40% over six years with the proportion in fact increasing in Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana during the same period.
The report points out that the ambitious Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was failing.


Instead of reducing food security it has led to greater insecurity for large section of the poor and the near-poor. Another problem of the TPDS was the issue of quantity of grain that a household would be entitled to. The TPDS initially restricted the allotments to BPL (Below Poverty Line) household to 10 kg per month. For a family of five this amount to 2% kg per capita. Using the ICMR recommended norm of 330 gram per day, the requirement per person per month would be 11kg and that for a family of five would be 55kg.

Shariq Haider Naqvi.
(Source Competition Success).