Why is the Global Hunger Index (GHI) being criticized? What can be done to address this issue?

October 17, 2023 February 22, 2024

The global hunger index is a method for evaluating and tracking global, regional and national hunger. India has ranked poor in the global hunger index 2022 with the rank of 107 among 121 countries.

This has released concerns regarding the government’s policies and performance in tackling the issue of hunger. However, there has been criticism of the GHI regarding its methodology.

Criticism of GHI:

  • Very small sample size of 3000, which gives a very unclear picture for a country with a population more than 1.3 billion .
  • The indicators used for calculation of GHIR related to the health of children below five years. Therefore they represent a small section of the population.
  • The GHI reflects the health of children rather than the health of the entire country.
  • The indicators of stunting and wasting or not a true indicator of hunger, as there are multidimensional aspects related to these.
  • India provides Cereals at a very low price and provided free food during the pandemic to hundreds of millions of families, hence the suggestion of GHI that India is facing a food shortage issue seems untrue.
  • The efforts of India to tackle the issue of hunger have been applauded by multilateral agencies like UNDP, IMF, World Bank, etc.

Way forward:

  • The data of NSSO provides a better picture for calorie consumption.
  • More comprehensive index, like the multidimensional poverty index of the UNDP, is a better indicator of the status of the entire population.
  • A detailed analysis and research is needed to present a clear picture rather than relying on the opinion of a very small sample survey size.

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