Bangladesh has gained 13 places to rank 75th out of 107 qualifying countries on the latest Global Hunger Index, well ahead of South Asian countries like India and Pakistan.
The country has been ranked 75th out of 107 qualifying countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020 with a score of 20.4.
South Asian countries Pakistan(88th), India(94th) and Afghanistan (99th) all ranked well below Bangladesh.
But even with a significant improvement, Bangladesh, however, has a level of hunger that is "serious", the report mentioned.
Among other South Asian countries, Sri Lanka (64th) and Nepal (73rd) did better than Bangladesh.
Moreover, the country has made significant inroads in curbing child stunting, with the rate dropping by 12.8 percentage points between 2012 and 2020.
However undernourishment remains an issue, with 13 percent of the population suffering from nutritional deficiencies. It marks a marginal improvement on the rate of 13.8 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, the under-five mortality rate in the country is 3 percent in 2020, down from 4.3 percent in 2012.
A high GHI score can be evidence of a lack of food, a poor-quality diet, inadequate child care-giving practices, an unhealthy environment, or all of these factors. The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best score (which means no hunger) and 100 the worst.
Jointly published by Concern Worldwide and its partner Welthungerhilfe, the 2020 Global Hunger Index was launched through an online event on Friday.
The report categorises countries into moderate, serious, or alarming hunger level, using the most recently published official data from a range of specific sources including FAO, UNICEF and WHO. As a result, the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic is not reflected in the Index.
The world faces an “immense mountain” if it is to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development goal of ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030, according to the report.
GHI scores show that hunger and undernutrition have worsened in the countries with hunger level. In many countries, the situation is progressing too slowly or even worsening, the report states.
GHI scores are based on the values of four component indicators: undernourishment (share of the population with insufficient caloric intake), child wasting (share of children under-five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition), child stunting (share of children under-five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), and child mortality.
