Somalia NOT on the '09 Global Hunger Index
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:25 pm
Ethiopia, Eritrea, DRC, Sierra Leone, Burundi and Chad are categorised as being in a state of extremely alarming levels of hunger in the newly released 2009 Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Twenty-nine countries around the world have alarming or extremely alarming levels of hunger, and 13 countries have actually seen increases in their hunger levels since 1990, according to the report.
Six countries incuding, Ethiopia, Chad, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Burundi and The Democratic Republic of Congo - are burdened by extremely alarming levels of hunger. The Democratic Republic of Congo scored the worst, Ethiopia ranked sixth. The report also shows that the high rates of hunger are strongly linked to gender inequalities, especially in terms of literacy and access to education, and highlights which countries are most vulnerable to the global economic downturn.
“Low-income countries are being hurt by the food and financial crises,” explained Klaus von Grebmer, lead author of the report and communications director at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). “The crises have significantly reduced purchasing power and income-earning opportunities for poor people, who spend up to 70 percent of their income on food, while food prices in many countries are still higher than several years ago.”
The Global Hunger Index was released in advance of World Food Day, celebrated on October 16 for the fourth year by IFPRI, Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide, which in conjunction published the report. The index ranks countries on three leading indicators — prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient — and combines them into one score.
Data used in the index comes from 2007 and earlier years, and thus rankings only partially account for the impact of the food crisis, and do not reflect the effects of the financial crisis. However, the report does compare index rankings with International Monetary Fund indicators of vulnerability to the crisis.
Countries that suffer from alarming levels of hunger are also very vulnerable to the global recession. The areas of vulnerability are trade, foreign direct investment, international aid, and remittances.
Overall, the 2009 Index illustrates that despite regional differences, progress in reducing hunger remains slow. Since 1990, the global score has declined by less than 25 percent. Most of this progress has been made in Southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have lowered their index scores by more than 40 percent over the past two decades.
Global Hunger Index scores, however, remain distressingly high throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa, which has made the least progress in combating hunger, with only a 13 percent decline in its score since 1990. Of the ten countries that have seen the largest increase in their index scores, nine are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) score has increased by an appalling 53 percent.
Africa is also home to the highest proportion of undernourished people (76 and 68 percent of the population, respectively, in the DRC and Eritrea) and the world’s highest child mortality rate, which stands at 26 percent in Sierra Leone.
Despite some progress over the past 20 years, the situation is also alarming in South Asia, which actually scored worse than Sub-Saharan Africa on the 2009 Global Hunger Index, largely because of widespread child malnutrition. In Bangladesh and India, more than 40 percent of children are underweight. Sri Lanka, which has been committed to universal education and reproductive health care, has been successful at reducing hunger, and stands out as an important exception in the region.
Countries with the most severe hunger problems also had high levels of gender inequality. The situation is especially serious in Chad, which ranks fifth worst on the Global Hunger Index, second in terms of gender inequality, and has a shockingly low female literacy rate of 13 percent, compared to 41 percent for men.
IFPRI research shows that equalising men’s and women’s status would reduce the number of malnourished children by 13.4 million in South Asia and by 1.7 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.
http://www.ifpri.org/publication/2009-g ... ast-africa
Eritrea is surprising, Ethiopia not particularly.
How long until the West gives up? There's no need for a vassal state in the Horn when they can make their own expeditions via mercenaries into Somalia and Eritrea if the need arises, Ethiopia survives (if you call that survival) off foreign aid, when that stops what will happen?
Six countries incuding, Ethiopia, Chad, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Burundi and The Democratic Republic of Congo - are burdened by extremely alarming levels of hunger. The Democratic Republic of Congo scored the worst, Ethiopia ranked sixth. The report also shows that the high rates of hunger are strongly linked to gender inequalities, especially in terms of literacy and access to education, and highlights which countries are most vulnerable to the global economic downturn.
“Low-income countries are being hurt by the food and financial crises,” explained Klaus von Grebmer, lead author of the report and communications director at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). “The crises have significantly reduced purchasing power and income-earning opportunities for poor people, who spend up to 70 percent of their income on food, while food prices in many countries are still higher than several years ago.”
The Global Hunger Index was released in advance of World Food Day, celebrated on October 16 for the fourth year by IFPRI, Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide, which in conjunction published the report. The index ranks countries on three leading indicators — prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient — and combines them into one score.
Data used in the index comes from 2007 and earlier years, and thus rankings only partially account for the impact of the food crisis, and do not reflect the effects of the financial crisis. However, the report does compare index rankings with International Monetary Fund indicators of vulnerability to the crisis.
Countries that suffer from alarming levels of hunger are also very vulnerable to the global recession. The areas of vulnerability are trade, foreign direct investment, international aid, and remittances.
Overall, the 2009 Index illustrates that despite regional differences, progress in reducing hunger remains slow. Since 1990, the global score has declined by less than 25 percent. Most of this progress has been made in Southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have lowered their index scores by more than 40 percent over the past two decades.
Global Hunger Index scores, however, remain distressingly high throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa, which has made the least progress in combating hunger, with only a 13 percent decline in its score since 1990. Of the ten countries that have seen the largest increase in their index scores, nine are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) score has increased by an appalling 53 percent.
Africa is also home to the highest proportion of undernourished people (76 and 68 percent of the population, respectively, in the DRC and Eritrea) and the world’s highest child mortality rate, which stands at 26 percent in Sierra Leone.
Despite some progress over the past 20 years, the situation is also alarming in South Asia, which actually scored worse than Sub-Saharan Africa on the 2009 Global Hunger Index, largely because of widespread child malnutrition. In Bangladesh and India, more than 40 percent of children are underweight. Sri Lanka, which has been committed to universal education and reproductive health care, has been successful at reducing hunger, and stands out as an important exception in the region.
Countries with the most severe hunger problems also had high levels of gender inequality. The situation is especially serious in Chad, which ranks fifth worst on the Global Hunger Index, second in terms of gender inequality, and has a shockingly low female literacy rate of 13 percent, compared to 41 percent for men.
IFPRI research shows that equalising men’s and women’s status would reduce the number of malnourished children by 13.4 million in South Asia and by 1.7 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.
http://www.ifpri.org/publication/2009-g ... ast-africa
Eritrea is surprising, Ethiopia not particularly.
How long until the West gives up? There's no need for a vassal state in the Horn when they can make their own expeditions via mercenaries into Somalia and Eritrea if the need arises, Ethiopia survives (if you call that survival) off foreign aid, when that stops what will happen?