Hunger in India

[Adite Banerjie]

A new Report by the IFPRI has analyzed hunger levels in 17 major states across India and found that the "state hunger index" scores range from serious to extremely alarming. Here's a press release of the report findings.

The Challenge of Hunger 2008
October 14, 2008
Released today by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in conjunction with Welthungerhilfe (formerly known as German Agro-Action) and the University of California, Riverside, the India State Hunger Index analyzes hunger levels in 17 major states across India. State hunger index scores range from "serious" to "extremely alarming."

The India State Hunger Index measures hunger on three leading indicators and combines them into one index. The three indicators are prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient. This approach is similar to the 2008 Global Hunger Index, which includes India, and is also being released today for World Food Day (October 16) by IFPRI in conjunction with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

The India Hunger Index found that not a single state in India falls in the 'low hunger' or 'moderate hunger' categories. Twelve states fall in the 'alarming' category, and one state—Madhya Pradesh—falls in the 'extremely alarming' category. Four states—Punjab, Kerala, Haryana and Assam—fall in the 'serious' category.

"This new state-focused index is an important advocacy tool to build awareness of the disparities in hunger across India, which has more hungry people than any other country in the world," said Bernhard Hoeper, regional director South Asia, Welthungerhilfe. "With this year's Global Hunger Index, we can also see how India compares to the rest of the world in the fight against hunger."

According to the 2008 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 66 out of 88 nations (developing countries and countries in transition). Despite years of robust economic growth, India scored worse than nearly 25 Sub-Saharan African countries and all of South Asia, except Bangladesh.

India's slightly better performance relative to Bangladesh is entirely due to better access to food in India relative to Bangladesh, which in turn is a consequence of India's higher agricultural productivity. On the other two components of the Global Hunger Index—child underweight and child mortality—India ranks below Bangladesh.

When Indian states are compared to countries in the 2008 Global Hunger Index, Madhya Pradesh ranks between Ethiopia and Chad. Punjab, the best-performing state, ranks below Gabon, Honduras, and Vietnam. India's poor performance is driven by its high levels of child undernutrition and calorie insufficiency. Its rates of child malnutrition are higher than most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

"The India State Hunger Index is particularly insightful because it measures hunger across the country by ranking states on three leading indicators and combining them into a composite index—somewhat akin to the Human Development Index," said Anil B. Deolalikar, professor of economics and associate dean of social sciences at the University of California, Riverside, and co-author of the India State Hunger Index.

The India State Hunger Index also found that poorer Indian states have substantially higher levels of hunger than their more prosperous counterparts. However, the report identified that strong economic growth does not necessarily translate into lower hunger levels. Even states with high rates of economic growth in recent years, such as Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, have high levels of hunger, while states with relatively slower economic growth, such as Punjab, achieved a lower hunger level.

"Hunger and malnutrition are often rooted in poverty," said Ashok Gulati, IFPRI director in Asia. "Part of the solution rests with increasing investments in agriculture and poverty reduction programs."

Child underweight accounts for the greatest contribution to the India State Hunger Index for almost all states, followed by calorie deficiency and child mortality. In a few states, such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, calorie deficiency contributes almost as much as child underweight.

"India needs to use existing programs and systems to ensure that all women and children are reached with evidence-based interventions during the window of opportunity—the first two years of life for children and before, during, and immediately after pregnancy for women," said Purnima Menon, IFPRI research fellow and lead author of the India State Hunger Index. "This would lead to much progress in reducing child undernutrition."

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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI is one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations.

Welthungerhilfe is convinced that all people of this world shall lead an independent life in dignity and justice, free from hunger and poverty. Welthungerhilfe was founded in 1962 as the national committee of the "Freedom from Hunger Campaign" set up by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Today, it is one of Germany's largest non-governmental organizations, which besides advocacy, provides help by means of rapid humanitarian aid in acute crisis regions and cooperates closely with local partners where hunger and poverty are chronic. www.welthungerhilfe.de

[Anders Abrahamsson]

Yes, I saw a news flash about the OECD report. And I saw the new-luxury peeps in Kampala too sitting in bars and getting fat from new wealth...

Yes, also in developed economies the discrepancies of opportunities are increasing. Depleted communities in the 'richer' countries needs to be tackled as well, and here the microfinance model have helped as well.

There are lot of opportunities for Sustainability Entrepreneurs to tap, for sure!

[Adite Banerjie]

Anders, while poverty in the developing countries is more visible, its growing in developed countries as well. I have excerpted some paragraphs from a recent OECD report which talks about growing inequality and poverty in OECD countries. The other point is that even in countries like India, especially in cities like Delhi, you have a section of people that are wildly excessive in their lifestyles and schools are having to run programs to tackle the problem of obese children! So, we do need an Extreme Humanity makeover...!

Adite


The gap between rich and poor has grown in more than three-quarters of OECD countries over the past two decades, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD Report Findings:

OECD’s Growing Unequal Report finds that the economic growth of recent decades has benefitted the rich more than the poor. In some countries, such as Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway and the United States, the gap also increased between the rich and the middle-class.
Countries with a wide distribution of income tend to have more widespread income poverty. Also, social mobility is lower in countries with high inequality, such as Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, and higher in the Nordic countries where income is distributed more evenly.
Why is the gap between rich and poor growing?

In most countries the gap is growing because rich households have done significantly better than middle-class and poor households. Changes in the structure of the population and in the labour market over the past 20 years have contributed greatly to this rise in inequality.

· Wages have been improving for those people who were already well paid.

· Employment rates have been dropping among less-educated people.

· And, there are more single-adult and single-family households.



Who is most affected?

Statisticians and economists assess poverty in relation to average incomes. Typically, they take the poverty line to be equivalent to one-half of the median income in a given country.

· Since 1980, poverty among the elderly has fallen in OECD countries.

· By contrast, poverty among young adults and families with children has increased.

· On average, one child out of every eight living in an OECD country in 2005 was living in poverty.



What does this mean for future generations?

Social mobility is generally higher in countries where income inequalities are relatively low. In countries with high income inequalities, by contrast, mobility tends to be lower.

· Children living in countries where there is large gap between rich and poor are less likely to improve on the education and income attainments of their parents than children living in countries with low income inequality.

· Countries like Denmark and Australia have higher social mobility, while the United States, United Kingdom and Italy have lower mobility.



What can be done?

In some cases, government policies of taxation and redistribution of income have helped to counteract widening inequalities, but this cannot be their only response. Governments must also improve their policies in other areas.

· Education policies should aim to equip people with the skills they need in today’s labour market.

· Active employment policies are needed to help unemployed people find work.

· Access to paid employment is key to reducing the risk of poverty, but getting a job does not necessarily mean you are in the clear. Growing Unequal? found that over half of all households in poverty have at least some income from work.

· Welfare-in-work policies can help hard-pressed working families to have a decent standard of living by supplementing their incomes.

[Anders Abrahamsson]

Muhammad Yunus describes the horror of one of the worst deaths - the one of famine, in his book "Banker to the Poor", in a touching paragraph in the intro of the book from the turn of the Millennium. At the same time, in the OECD and richer urban environments of the developing and emerging economies, you have soon coming to one billion people suffering from obesity as a result of a strangely excessive lifestyle.

Imagine an alien coming from another world, and seeing this. He would suggest an Extreme Humanity Makeover...

That would be a great Reality TV idea, wouldn't it?

In this context, the Grameen Danone idea is as simple as beautiful - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grameen_Danone - nutritional youghurt distributed to especially kids, added with essentials needed to tackle malnutrition in Bangladesh.

THERE we have a Joint Venture to show-case!

Peace,
Anders