Conflict, inequality & climate change driving global hunger: Report

The Central African Republic topped the Global Hunger Index released on October 15 as the supporting agencies warned that climate change was making it increasingly hard to feed the world. Concern Worldwide, an aid agency that works in support of the Global Hunger Index, said that the target towards a 2030 zero hunger promised by the world leaders is under severe threat. The hunger levels in CAR that were escalated due to violence since 2013 are at an extremely alarming level.

According to the global index released to mark the World Food Day, the levels of nations such as Chad, Madagascar, Yemen, and Zambia are at an alarming state. The index stated that out of 117 countries, 43 nations had serious hunger levels. As per the reports, the declining poverty and massive funding for nutrition initiatives have helped to reduce global hunger to some extent since 2000, but still some countries lag behind. Nine countries which include CAR, Madagascar, Venezuela, Yemen, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Lebanon and Oman which were given more importance had higher scores of hunger levels than in 2010.

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The number of malnourished people worldwide rose to 822 million

Dominic MacSorley, CEO of the Concern, said about 45 countries would not be able to meet their target of low levels of hunger by 2030. He added that the adverse impact of climate change, internal conflicts, and inequality in society are the major drawbacks that have contributed to high levels of hunger and food security worldwide. The number of malnourished people worldwide rose to 822 million last year from 785 million in 2015. They lack regular access to adequate calories. Mary Robinson, the former Irish President said that the figures showed that the 2030 global development goals promised in 2015 and the Paris climate agreement could no longer be met with this approach. Both the goals should be fully incorporated to secure a livable world for our future generations. She added that it required a change in the mindset at the global political level.

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The index is based on four factors

The report stated that the cases related to extreme weather-related disasters had doubled since the early 1990s which has resulted in reducing the crop yields and hiked the food prices. It can be asserted that the index is based on four factors - undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality. Nine countries of concern were omitted due to lack of data, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria. The report has urged to come up with more effective measures to reduce the climate change risks to food security as well which could help improve the disaster preparation and response, transforming food production and consumption in, especially high-income nations.

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