Nigeria ranks 103 of 121 on Global Hunger Index

Nigeria has been ranked 103rd out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index, 2022, published over the weekend.

The GHI, which is jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, is an annual review and tracking of hunger at global, regional, and national levels. The 2022 edition contains the ranking of 121 countries with credible data.

The report categorises the severity of hunger among countries on five levels – low, moderate, serious, alarming, and extremely alarming. According to the 2022 index, the level of hunger in Nigeria is ‘serious’.

The countries were graded 0-100 (zero meaning no hunger, while 100 is worst) based on the value of four indicators, namely: Undernourishment, Child stunting, Child wasting, and Child mortality.

Countries with 0-9.9 have a low level of hunger; those with 10.0 – 19.9 have a moderate level of hunger; while countries that scored 20.0 – 34.9 have a serious level of hunger. In countries that scored 35.0 – 49.9, the level of hunger is categorized as alarming; those categorized under ‘extremely alarming’ scored above 50.0.

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The severity of hunger in Nigeria is said to be ‘serious’ having scored 27.3. Demystifying the score based on the four indicators, it was stated that 12.7% of Nigeria’s population is undernourished; 6.5% of her children under age five are wasted; 31.5% of children under five are stunted; 11.4% of children in the country die before their 5th birthday.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FOA), Undernourishment means that “a person is not able to acquire enough food to meet the daily minimum dietary energy requirements, over a period of one year”

Child stunting and child wasting, in the GHI report, refers to the share of children under age five who have low height and low weight, respectively, for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition.

The level of hunger in Nigeria may worsen in the coming years, following the devastating effect of flooding in many parts of the country.

According to the Federal Government, over 400,000 hectares of farmlands have been destroyed by floods this year. The floods, caused by rainfall and overflow of the Benue and Niger rivers, have reportedly claimed 603 lives and have displaced over two million people across the country, while many farmlands have been devastated.

By: Oluwatobi Odeyinka

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