India has made some progress in reducing poverty level, but still ranks behind neighbouring Nepal and Sri Lanka on the Global Hunger Index and its hunger status remains classified as “serious”. India was at 63rd position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) last year. The 55th position in 2014 is better than Pakistan (ranked 57) and Bangladesh (57), but trails behind Nepal (44) and Sri Lanka (39). “Progress in dealing with underweight helped India’s 2014 GHI score fall to 17.8 points. Indianow ranks 55th out of 76 countries, before Bangladesh and Pakistan, but still trails behind neighbouring Nepal and Sri Lanka,” the GHI report said.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally and by country and region. Calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provides insights into the drivers of hunger. By raising awareness and understanding of regional and country differences in hunger, the GHI aims to trigger actions to reduce hunger.

To reflect the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI combines three equally weighted indicators in one index number:

1. Undernourishment: the proportion of undernourished as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient calorie intake);
2. Child underweight: the proportion of children younger than the age of five who are underweight (low weight for age reflecting wasting, stunted growth, or both), which is one indicator of child undernutrition; and
3. Child mortality: the mortality rate of children younger than the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate dietary intake and unhealthy environments).

The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger), and 100 is the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice.