Burundi, Eritrea, East Timor top global hunger index
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sixteen countries have alarming levels of hunger, with Burundi the worst affected, according to an annual index released on Monday which also reveals that 2 billion people worldwide suffer from
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sixteen countries have alarming levels of hunger, with Burundi the worst affected, according to an annual index released on Monday which also reveals that 2 billion people worldwide suffer from “hidden hunger”.
Hidden hunger, which is a lack of vitamins and minerals, weakens the immune system, stunts physical and intellectual growth, and can lead to death.
Burundi, which tops the Global Hunger Index for the third year in a row, is followed by Eritrea, East Timor and Comoros.
Some 805 million people around the world are still chronically undernourished, according to the report, despite progress in combating hunger – three years ago, the index recorded 26 countries with “alarming” or “extremely alarming” hunger levels.
South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa face the highest levels of hunger.
Countries showing the largest improvement since 1990 include Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chad, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Thailand and Vietnam.
The report said hidden hunger not only affects the well-being of individuals, but also has economic impacts, including lost productivity, persistent poverty, and reduced gross domestic product in many developing countries.
“Particularly in countries facing a high burden of malnutrition, hidden hunger goes hand in hand with other forms of malnutrition and cannot be addressed in isolation,” said Bärbel Dieckmann, president of German aid agency Welthungerhilfe.
“In the long-term, people cannot break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition without being granted the basic right to nutritious food,” he said in a statement.
The index, now in its ninth year, combines three indicators – the proportion of the population that is undernourished, the proportion of young children who are underweight and the mortality rate for under-fives.
Among its recommendations, the report calls for an increase in numbers of nutrition and health experts, improved access to local markets and the development of local food processing facilities.
The report, compiled by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide is released ahead of World Food Day on October 16.
It comes a week after the Food and Agriculture Organization announced world food prices had hit a four-year low following a record high forecast for global wheat production in 2014.
(Reporting By Kieran Guilbert. Editing by Emma Batha.)
ahmed saleh October 15, 2014
Lack of productivity brings poverty with
poverty follows hunger and malnutrition .
There are two types of hunger forms , the
one that nature brings and the man made
which sadly to say the later fit into our case .
Wadiya October 15, 2014
Eritrea: land with largest number of prisons and prisoners
Eritrea: land with largest number slaves in the Arab world
Eritrea: land that expresses its existence by producing more refugees relative to its small size
Eritrea: land of the largest number of journalist prisoners [thanks to Ali Abdu Yonous]
and now, Eritrea: land of starvation
Dawit Meconen October 15, 2014
The world community must wake up to the real cause of Eritrean people’s plight. It is Genocide, inflicted by isias afeweerqi and his cabals masquerading as Eritrean patriots in pursuit of their hidden agenda.
The culprit is perpetrating pogrom on our people in utter darkness. There are NGOs, No foreign News Media in Eritrea. The foreign Ambassadors are prohibited by law to travel outside Asmera; Eritrean elites are either being incarcerated indefinitely without legal process, or are being executed by killing squads and their remains cannot be traced; the youth are languishing in Concentration Camps under the pseudonym of National Service with nominal monthly salary that cannot pay even one day’s decent meal, while his children are enjoying life with him etccccccccccccc.
The UN must force isaias to allow the Human Right Violation Investigating Commission not only to enter Eritrea but also to privately interview as many people as possible throughout the country, civilians, prisoners, students etc. And the Commission must be extra careful not to fall under the spell of his charm.
ahmed saleh October 15, 2014
Dawit
Remember around mid 1990’s how Issayas fooled the people to get approval for his hidden agenda
motives by expelling all foreign humanitarian and civic agencies to leave the country isolated
from outside world . After that moment he found an easy way out unnoticed to accomplish his ill-will .
Particularly speaking he exploited world attention on 9/11 terror event to imprison the who is
who opponents like those journalists and political figures . I doubt with rigid attitude he has
the ability to work with anyone respectively with long term mutual understanding .
The funny part is when you see people with one leg at grave still expect miracle from same person
who put them at that position in first place . YIGHERMAL bele AMHARAY .
ahmed saleh October 15, 2014
I think you have unclarified issues with
Tigrigna speaking Eritreans .
ahmed saleh October 15, 2014
A response to Asghedom comment .
semere 2 October 16, 2014
No one will convince me that the case of Eritrea is natural calamity. The causes in our country are:
– brutal dictatorship
– Oppression and lack of freedom of expression
– protracted centralized economic system
– Greed of the few goons of PIA
– Bad governance
– obvious lack of professionalism and transparency
– regionalism
– And the result of all: “MASS EXODUS”
Simon G. October 16, 2014
I can’t believe Eritrea falls in this kind of situation. isayas and the top hgdf members are working very hard to weaken Eritrea and then, only then will try to donate it to ethiopia. Those idiot generals and colonels (most of them) are blind of this plan. How could they? These are the recipient of undeserved stripes. Most of them have limited IQs. Thier threshold is the same as 4th grade at best. And those blind diaspora followers? Let’s give up on them. As they say, you can’t fixed a stupid.
bitew yihdego October 16, 2014
Simon,
I agree with you ,except do not think the generals are doing it out of stupidity ,they are under cia’s pay role,and cia does not do it because of hatred of eritrea ,but because of eritrea being volatile issue and anti west ,anti zionist nation.
Wadbahar October 16, 2014
People are poor because the repressive economic and political institutions, though they are fake, deformed, archaic and one-manned, not only failed to create the conducive circumstances necessary for economic growth and development, but are the major obstacle rather. How do people create wealth when they are not free even to think let alone to farm, fish, trade or practice any occupation, or when there is no law that protects their lives, rights, interests and property, or when one man is the source of all policies even in areas of narrow specialization? How do people create wealth when the youth and the able-bodied are indefinitely locked in the endless military services and the aging are the only population in the urban and rural areas? How do the people create wealth when the government is the only farmer, fisherman, trader, industrialist or service-provider? How do people create wealth when there is no education, the only creator of human resource, the most important source of wealth? How do people create wealth when one man tells the whole society what and when to eat, what to drink, what to wear, what to believe, what to feel, what to think, what to say and what to do? In few words, how do people create wealth when the whole country is turned into a military camp where one man wants to run it by pressing an automatic button and the rest have no other choice but just obey all orders to the full-stop and comma? Based on all that, present-day Eritrea is not one of the standard states that have universal structures, policies and procedures we see functioning in all parts of the world. It is something unprecedented in modern history of statehood, a matter which made it impossible for anyone of us to coin any name for it. Consequently, this report could by no means be a surprise even for the dead.
Tamrat Tamrat October 16, 2014
I dont know much about Iskimo or Brundi, but the Food shortage in Eritrea is man made planed to suck the remittance eri People sending home by inflatting the price of Food in Eritrea. You conroll the price of Food then you controll every thing. That is hwat the evil genious is doing. Jumst to mark my point compare Food prices around the neighbouring countries. Jesus christ, Eritrea has expensive Food price than many European countries.
This is what the government does. Buy every thing from farmers and sell to the People in a price fits for the government. This is controlled by idiot socialism system called R A T I O N. Whay a ration in the first Place? To controll People. This Control prick good for nothing corrupt communist must be removed from Eritrea Now.
Just while we are talking this now the eveil genious is planning how to increase Food price in Eritrea to get more Money from the mass.
I know whay every concerened countries do nothing about this clueless pfdj. The reason is the more pfdj stays in Power the more the counry is destroyed. And the more the country is destroyed the more easy to be exploited.
Tamrat Tamrat October 16, 2014
Eritrea is for example 58.3% more expensive than Uruguay for groceriesa, and 27.8% more expensive for transport costs than Greece.
ERITRAWIT October 16, 2014
Just imagine if we don’t send money every month to our family Eritrea will be on number one!!!!!
Tamrat Tamrat October 16, 2014
You know what the Senei smuglers do to blackmail the Family of the seneis refugees? Then the pfdj government starts the same system to blackmaile eritreans who live abroad and the 2% will be incremented to 5%. So buddy come up With different idea.
ahmed saleh October 16, 2014
Tamrat
We can’t compromise on well being of our
families and for that reason it is everyone
obligation to help financially .
Tamrat Tamrat October 17, 2014
Hi Ahmed!
I think we are saying the same thing. If people stop the permittance the regime will be more harsh on the people at home by creating new methods.
Getachew October 16, 2014
Oh God what are Eritrean going to do now?
That reminds me of the UN recommendation that Eritrea is not self sufficient unless it sticks to the Economy of either Sudan or Ethiopia.
So sad