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Five middle-income countries (MICs) which displayed strong economic growth in 2014 – India, Brazil, China, Mexico and Indonesia – account for 363 million, or a half, of the world’s hungry, according to a report released on Wednesday by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
The 2014–2015 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) called on Governments of these middle income countries to reshape their food systems to focus on nutrition and health, close the gender gap in agriculture, and improve rural infrastructure to ensure food security for all.
“It may seem counterintuitive, but these growing economies play a key role in our ability to adequately and nutritiously feed the world,” said Shenggen Fan, Director General, IFPRI, in a statement.
He added that important strides towards global food security had been made in 2014, it was crucial to “keep these and other food policy issues high on the global development agenda to ensure we eliminate hunger and malnutrition worldwide”.
The study noted that distribution specifics needed to be ironed out for India’s National Food Security Act that aims to provide subsidised food to 67 per cent of the population, while it also praised the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme that aimed to open 7.5 crore bank accounts for poor households.
Sanitation link
The report highlighted the link between sanitation and nutrition, using findings from Bangladesh to show reduction in open defecation helped reduce the number of stunted children who were taller than those living in comparable areas with similar economic standing in West Bengal.
Of the five countries highlighted in the IFPRI study, India measured poorest in terms of stunted children at 47.9 per cent, as compared to 35.6 per cent in Indonesia, 14 per cent in Mexico, 9.4 per cent in China and 7.1 per cent in Brazil.
“It has become clear that the factors that influence people’s nutrition go well beyond food and agriculture to include drinking water and sanitation, the role of women, the quality of care giving, among others,” Fan said.
Global survey
The report also included a perception survey undertaken in January comprising responses from 1,000 individuals, most employed with NGOs, academic circles and Government/policy sectors, across 55 countries.
Only 8 per cent of young respondents – those under 30 – believed that global hunger could be eliminated by 2025. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied with food policies in their own countries and a significant perception gap existed between sexes with only 23 per cent of women satisfied with prevalent food security measures as compared to 44 per cent of men.
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