Bangladesh on the borderline of ‘serious’ level of hunger

Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh is on the borderline of ‘serious’ level of hunger by scoring 19.6 out of 100 point scale, Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 report said on Thursday.
The serious level starts from 20.0-34.9, while ‘alarming’ level is 35.0-49.9 and extremely alarming level is above 50.
Bangladesh had been categorised as ‘serious’ level in 2000 scoring 33.9 while 31.3 score in 2007 and 26.3 score in 2004.
GHI scores are based on the values of four indicators – undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality.
According to GHI, 11.4 percent of the population in Bangladesh is undernourished, 9.8 percent of children under five are wasted, 28 percent of children under five are stunted and 2.9 percent of children die before their fifth birthday.
Based on the values of the four indicators, a GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger, where 0 is the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. Each country’s GHI score is classified by severity, from low to extremely alarming.
On the other hand, Bangladesh has been ranked 84th out of 121 countries in GNI-2022. However, Bangladesh’s score is better than its neighbouring countries India and Pakistan.
India scored 29.1 with the rank 107th while Pakistan scored 26.1 with the position of 99th, Nepal 19.1 score with the rank 81th and Sri Lanka 13.6 score with the rank 64, Afghanistan scored 29.9 score with the rank 109.
A total of 17 countries are on the ‘low’ level of hunger whose score is less than five. China, Kuwait, Belarus, Turkiye, Serbia, Romania and Uruguay are some of the countries under this category. Yemen scored the highest point 45.1 with the rank 121. The Global Hunger Index is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.