Page 3 - Hunger

Dip in India's rank in Global Hunger Index 2021 'shocking', says govt

The Centre on Friday said it was shocking that India's rank was lowered on the Global Hunger Index, terming the methodology used for rankings "unscientific". India slipped to 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th. It is now behind its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Reacting sharply to the report, the Women and Child Development Ministry said it is "shocking" to find that the Global Hunger Report 2021 has lowered the rank of India on the basis of FAO estimate on proportion of undernourished population which is found to be "devoid of ground reality and facts and suffers from serious methodological issues". "The publishing agencies of the Global Hunger Report, Concern Worldwide and Welt Hungerhilfe, have not done their due diligence before releasing the report," the ministry said in a statement. The methodology used by FAO is "unscientific", the ministry claimed.

Nutrition through biofortification

The benefits of the biofortified crops have been corroborated even by the actual impact assessment studies on children and women

60% domestic workers not paid in lockdown, faced poverty, debt: Report

The 2020 lockdown and the partial state shutdowns have hurt millions of informal workers in India, with female workers bearing the brunt of the crisis

No one will die of hunger in Uttar Pradesh, says CM Yogi Adityanath

No one will be deprived of basic necessities or die of hunger in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath proclaimed on Thursday. The chief minister also expressed his government's resolve to ensure that every poor farmer, elderly people and destitute women get the benefits of the government's welfare schemes without any discrimination. Yogi made these remarks while transferring Rs 836.55 crore to 55.77 lakh beneficiaries of the National Old Age Pension Scheme. I am happy to inform you that out of these beneficiaries, there are 4.56 lakh new beneficiaries. The quarterly instalment is being sent to these accounts for the first time, Adityanath said in a digital event. Describing elderly people as our guide due to their wealth of experience, the chief minister said, The elderly people's needs of ration and medical treatment at the time of illness are being looked into. Not only this, an Elderly Helpline 14567' (Elderline) has been specially set up and any senior citizen can con

Afghans face hunger crisis, adding to challenges of Taliban rulers

Food stocks in Afghanistan could run out this month, a senior UN official warned Wednesday, threatening to add a hunger crisis to the challenges facing the country's new Taliban rulers

Global hunger to rise in 2021 due to income losses from Covid-19 pandemic

291 million people won't have enough to eat in 2021, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

World hunger worsened by climate change, conflict: UN Secretary General

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that climate change and conflict are both a consequence and a driver of poverty, income inequality and food prices.

Jobs lost, middle-class Indians line up for rations and 'worry about meals'

More than 15 million Indians lost their jobs in May alone; legions of them see their economic toehold ripped away in lockdowns.

155 million people faced severe hunger last year, says United Nations

At least 155 million people faced acute hunger in 2020, including 133,000 who needed urgent food to prevent widespread death from starvation -- and the outlook for 2021 is equally grim or worse, a report by 16 organizations said Wednesday. The report, which focuses on 55 countries that account for 97% of humanitarian assistance, said the magnitude and severity of food crises last year worsened as a result of protracted conflicts, the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, and weather extremes that exacerbated pre-existing fragilities. The 155 million people faced crisis," emergency" or catastrophe/famine" levels of food needs, an increase of around 20 million people from 2019, it said. According to the report, two-thirds of the people in those crisis levels were in 10 countries -- Congo, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, northern Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Haiti. The 133,000 facing starvation, death and destitution were in Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Yemen.

Pakistan PM urges world to promote sustainable agriculture to combat hunger

Imran Khan on Wednesday said that 100 million people globally will become poor due to the COVID-19 pandemic, urging the world to promote sustainable agriculture to combat hunger.

2021 to see 40% surge in people needing humanitarian aid due to Covid: UN

The UN humanitarian office says needs for assistance have ballooned to unprecedented levels this year because of Covid-19, projecting that a staggering 235 million people will require help in 2021

UN World Food Program warns 2021 is going to be worse than 2020

The head of the World Food Program says the Nobel Peace Prize has given the UN agency a spotlight and megaphone to warn world leaders that next year is going to be worse than this year

Covid-19 may cause hunger, famine, $8.5 trn loss in global output: UN chief

Guterres told the high-level meeting that the UN is asking for immediate, collective action in six critically important areas to deal with the crisis

Covid-19 lockdown: Who will prevent a hunger pandemic?

Both hunger and poverty are likely to increase acutely and may become chronic in the months to come

Rising food insecurity: Tackling hunger during the coronavirus crisis

Food insecurity is on the rise as subsidised food distributed via govt-run ration shops is not easily available to everyone

Developing nations should increase carbon footprint to tackle hunger: Study

The study also found that a food's country of origin can have huge consequences for its climate impact

The semantics of starvation

For their lives, spent in a state of chronic hunger and deprivation, are a more telling indictment of India's porous social security net

Implementing multiple schemes to address hunger: Govt

It adds that government allocates foodgrains at highly subsidised prices under the National Food Security Act