The Global Hunger Index (GHI) describes the level of hunger in the world. The 2015 Global Hunger Index report published by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe says a staggering 52 developing countries in the world, are suffering from serious levels of hunger.
Of the top 10 countries most affected by hunger in 2015, eight countries belong to Africa, the two others being Afghanistan and Yemen. South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara continue to experience the highest levels of hunger. Some 27 percent improvement has taken place in hunger levels in developing countries since the year 2000. The report says despite the progress made, the level of hunger in the world remains unacceptably high, with some 795 million people still going hungry, more than one in four children affected by stunting (when a child is shorter than expected for their age), and 9 percent of children affected by wasting (when weight is less than expected for a child’s height).

Top 10 countries most affected by hunger in 2015 are

1) Central African Republic
2) Chad
3) Zambia
4) Timor
5) Sierra Leone
6) Haiti
7) Madagascar
8) Afghanistan
9) Niger
10) Yemen

In 1990–1992, 1 billion people went hungry. Today, about 795 million, or 1 in 8 people worldwide, still suffer from hunger.

Pakistan

Global Hunger Index 2015 paints a grim picture for Pakistan.
East Timor, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Niger and Yemen made it to the list of 10 countries most affected by hunger in 2015, while Pakistan barely missed that list by 0.3 points. Pakistan being number 11 in the grading just manages to stay out of the group which faces the most precarious condition.
Pakistan’s GHI Score for 2015
• Proportion of undernourished in population is 22%
• Prevalence of wasting in children under five years is 10.5%
• Prevalence of stunting in children under five years is 45%
• Under five-mortality rate in Pakistan is 8.6%

Pakistan has been among the least affected country in South Asia from hunger since 1990. However, in the last 25 years, Pakistan showed little progress in eliminating hunger while Bangladesh and India exhibited improvement on the Global Hunger Index. The stubborn level of hunger in Pakistan can be attributed to the lack of an innovative strategy to deal with hunger, prolonged war on terror, natural disasters, energy crisis and low agricultural production over the years.