Food Security and Global Hunger Index
This article is jointly researched and written by Arnab Chakraborty & Swagatika Sen where they explores the intricate realities of hunger, food security, and malnutrition in India through the lens of Amartya Sen’s entitlement theory and the evolution of the Global Hunger Index (GHI).
Before we discuss on Food Security and Global Hunger Index, a few lines….
সবাইকে বলি, ছিনিয়ে নিয়ে খাও না? এসো, আমরা সবাই মিলে ছিনিয়ে নিয়ে খাই। ব্যাপার বুঝছো তো, মোদের খিচুড়িভোগের জন্য যে চাল ডাল আসে তাও বেশিরভাগ চোরাগোপ্তা হয়ে যায়। “
” কিন্তু যারা না খেয়ে মরছে তাদের যদি এই স্বার্থপরতা থাকতো? এক কাপ অখাদ্য গ্রুয়েল দেওয়ার বদলে তাদের যদি স্বার্থপর করে তোলা হতো? অন্ন থাকতে বাংলায় না খেয়ে কেউ মরতো না। তা সে অন্ন হাজার মাইল দূরেই থাক আর একত্রিশটা তালা লাগানো গুদামেই থাক। “
It is the point where theory of Amartya Sen and creation of Manik Bandopadhyay knots in a single thread. Thomas Malthus, in 1978, predicted that the population growth would unavoidably supersede the food production. And Amartya Sen’s major argument was that – during the past famines the main problem was not so much the lack of food but rather the impossibility for poor people to access it. During the last decades the agricultural production worldwide has grown more rapidly than the population did and there is, now, more food available to feed and feed more than today’s world population. Still, the no of people suffering food insecurity. According to FAO (2002), “Food security exists when all people, at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
We can understand the concept of food security better if we have a glance on its evolution.
Post WW-I and League of Nations (1935-1943)
In 1935, the League of Nations’ Health Division conducted a survey revealing widespread hunger and malnutrition in poorer nations. This led to discussions on coordinated nutrition policies. Experts recognized the link between nutrition and food security, leading to the idea that increasing food production would benefit both agriculture and industry—referred to as the “marriage of health and agriculture.” In 1943, during WWII, global leaders established the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to address food security.
Post WW-II, UN, and FAO (1946-1961)
After WWII, food shortages remained a major concern, leading to policies promoting self-sufficiency and agricultural growth. The FAO’s first World Food Survey (1946) revealed that one-third of the global population lacked sufficient nutrition. This highlighted chronic malnutrition as a persistent issue, distinguishing it from famines caused by natural disasters. Food aid became a key response. In 1961, FAO and WHO established the Codex Alimentarius Commission to set international food safety standards.
1970-1990: Food Crises and Emergencies
In 1972, poor harvests and rising oil prices led to soaring cereal prices, making food imports costly for developing nations. Donor countries reduced food aid, as it was driven by surplus disposal rather than actual need. The World Food Conference (1974, Rome) aimed to eliminate hunger within a decade, focusing on food availability. However, food security concerns shifted towards emergency situations, especially after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The African food crises (1983-85, 1992) were tackled through increased food supply rather than addressing malnutrition.
Economist Amartya Sen argued that famines arose not from food scarcity but from people losing their entitlement to food. His “entitlement approach” introduced access as a key dimension of food security, though its full application remains limited.
1990-2005: Recognizing Access as Key
The 1992 International Conference on Nutrition (Rome), jointly held by FAO and WHO, was a major milestone. It declared hunger and malnutrition unacceptable and recognized access to adequate, safe food as a fundamental right. While food production was sufficient globally, inequitable access remained the core issue.
As we have glimpsed into the evolution of food security, the reality unfolds before us—not just as history but as a relentless crisis that continues to shape lives. Hunger is not just the absence of food; it is the silent, unyielding force that cripples nations, weakens economies, and shatters human potential.
Now let’s us have a look at ourselves. India has scored very poorly in the GHI or Global Hunger Index again. She has ranked 105 out of 127 countries. As usual, and like every other time, this news has sparked controversies throughout this vast country, which has an estimated population of 1.4 billion. As soon as the media broadcasters started circulating the ranking of the index, social media became saturated with tons of criticism, disappointment, and mockery towards the government, along with questions like, “How can a country that helps some poorer countries by supplying food, rank below those very countries in the hunger index?” Others have simply stated , “Remember that India’s population is much, much larger,” and “These are all Western conspiracies to defame India,” and so on. We might gain some clarity on the subject if we set aside these questions and propositions for a moment, and ask a few other questions. What is the Global Hunger Index? And, in that case, what is hunger? Does hunger mean that one goes to sleep without eating? Or does it mean that one eats but not enough to eliminate the physiological feeling of “that’s not enough, I want more”? Now, let us seek the answers one by one.
Hunger is generally meant by the physiological distress one experiences due to insufficient intake of food. As per the definition of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hunger is defined as “Fod deprivation, or undernourishment, as the habitual consumption of too few calories to provide the minimum dietary energy an individual requires to live a healthy and productive life, given that person’s sex, age, stature, and physical activity level.” So, this gives us a clear understanding that FAO doesn’t mean that if one merely gets to eat isn’t hungry. As we have understood what hunger is, then we should move on to how the ranking is made. Now you might think, according to the given definition, how does they measure food deprivation and undernourishment? Let us have a look.
To prepare the Global Hunger Index, four different parameters are taken into account — 1. Undernourishment, that is the share of population whose nourishment is deprived, 2. Child Stunting (Below age 5), that is the share of children whose height for age is low ; reflecting chronic undernutrition, 3. Child Wasting (Below age 5), that is the share of children who have low weight in respect to their height ; reflecting acute undernutrition and lasty 4. Child Mortality (Below age 5) that is, the childern who dies before their 5th birthday which reflects the cumulative effect undernutrition, poor hygienic environment and the medical services as a whole. Data are taken based on these parameters.
Now, the methodology given by FAO to make the Index is, “The standardized scores are aggregated to calculate the GHI score for each country. Undernourishment and child mortality each contribute one-third of the GHI score, while child stunting and child wasting each contribute one-sixth of the score.” Then all four are taken together to create a mean value. The GHI scores ranges 0 to 100. For example, a country with 0 score in undernourishment means that it doesn’t have undernourishment, where 100 suggests that the level of undernourishment in that country exactly meets the thresholds set slightly above the highest levels observed worldwide in recent decades.
After reading this, one might conclude that it is nowhere near what we mean by hunger, but rather it’s more of a nutrition index. Although on surface this argument seems valid, then it is also true that all the parameters of GHI occurs as a consequence of hunger. One must also be aware that it is, perhaps, impossible to measure the hunger directly. Rather its consequences can be measured, and that is what exactly done in making GHI. One’s logic, perception, belief and of course political influence may question the validity and accuracy of the Global Hunger Index, but it is the truth and devastating truth that millions of children wouldn’t survive to see their 5th birthday. And why? Why? — just for the lack of sufficient Food!
Mother India is so vast. She produces millions of tonnes of crops. So, the question is no longer “Is there enough food?” but rather, “Who gets to eat that food?”