Ethiopia ranks 97th out of 117 qualifying countries in the 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) with a score of 28.9 meaning there are many people in the country that are starving and climate change is making things worse.
Eight European states came together to create the report using four categories: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality.
They look at caloric deficiencies and poor nutrition. The undernourishment indicator captures the nutrition situation of the population as a whole, while the indicators specific to children reflect the nutrition status within a particularly vulnerable subset of the population for whom a lack of dietary energy, protein, and/or micronutrients (essential vitamins and minerals) leads to a high risk of illness, poor physical and cognitive development, and death.
“The rank shows that we have a long way to go to meet our sustainable development Goals Particularly Goal 2, which is zero hunger.” said Kaba Urgessa, State Minister of Agriculture. He added that the country has the fastest growing economy in the region, it remains one of the poorest with 23 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
Though measuring hunger is complicated, the global hunger index (GHI) has been designated and used as a tool to compressively measure hunger at the global, regional and national level.
“We need to work together will all stakeholders to eradicate hunger,” the State Minister said.
According to the Minister, The entire dependency on the ratified agriculture, subsistence agriculture, low genetic potential of indigenous animals and poor animal husbandry practices ,limited access of water and animal feed the wide spread of diseases and parasites, are among the factors contributing to the problem of under nutrition. Ethiopia needs to improve irrigation practices as climate change is expected to impact 70pct of the population.
Poor feeding practices for infants and children is a major factor behind these troubling numbers.
GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger and to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, Based on the report,822 million people are suffering from hunger around the world; this number has been rising for three years, and it represents a bitter setback. In four countries Yemen, Lebanon, Central African Republic, and Venezuela the GHI scores are now higher than in 2000.
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