Afghanistan falls six places to 109th in Global Hunger Index

Afghanistan has slipped six places to 109^th out of 121 countries on the 2022 Global Hunger Index.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels. GHI scores are based on the values of four component indicators – undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality. The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger, where zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.

Afghanistan has scored 29.9 in the latest index and is in the ‘serious’ category.

In the index, India ranked 107th while Pakistan ranked 99^th.

The Global Hunger Index report also showed that 29.8 percent of the population in Afghanistan is undernourished, and 5.1 percent of children under five are wasted.

According to the report, 38.2 percent of children under five are stunted, and 5.8 percent of children die before their fifth birthday.

“In 2022, Afghanistan is experiencing drought, political and economic instability, extreme poverty, and the consequences of the global rise in food and fuel prices made worse by the war in Ukraine, which together may result in higher stunting rates in years to come,” the report said.

The Global Hunger Index is prepared by European NGOs of Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. The GHI is calculated annually, and its results appear in a report issued in October each year.