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New Delhi: India has
224.6 million undernourished people as nearly a fifth of the
country's population does not receive the minimum number of
calories required by an average individual, says the newly
launched Global Food Security Index (GFSI).
Sixty-eight point seven percent of the population in India lives
below the global poverty line, the index said.
GFSI, a scoring tool that measures the drivers of food security in
105 countries, says that the undernourished in India consume, on
an average, 240 kcal below the minimum requirement, indicating
that food deprivation in the country is slightly less severe than
in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"Nineteen percent of India's population does not receive the
minimum number of required calories for an average person, thus
resulting in 224.6 million undernourished people," GFSI said.
The index, which was launched in the capital earlier this week,
said that the food supply in India averages 2,352 kcal per person
per day. The Food and Agriculture Organisation's minimum
recommended intake is 1,780 kcal per person per day.
It said food consumption as a share of household expenditure
averages 49.5 percent in India, versus an average of 52.3 percent
in South Asia and just 20 percent in high income countries.
India is ranked 66th in GFSI, scoring moderately across the four
categories of affordability, availability, quality and
safety.India ranks ahead of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and
Bangladesh in food availability but lack of a diverse diet and low
protein quality constrain its score in quality and safety, placing
the country third in the region, the index said.
India applies high tariffs on agricultural imports which has an
impact on affordability and availability of food, it said.
India has been ranked 76th in terms of food consumption as a share
of household expenditure. It has been ranked 83rd in proportion of
population under global poverty line, 69th in gross domestic
product per capita, 100th in agricultural import tariffs, 31st in
presence of food programmes and 30th in access to financing for
farmers.
The index said despite vulnerability to food price shocks, India
has institutions dedicated to providing food safety net programmes
to protect the poor.
It said that government spends just one percent of agricultural
GDP on related research, placing India near the bottom of 26 lower
middle-income countries.
The GFSI ranks India 76th in average food supply
(kcal/person/day), 55th in dependency of chronic food aid and 65th
in public expenditure on agricultural research and development.
In agricultural infrastructure, the country was ranked 44th, 27th
in volatility of agricultural production and 20th in political
stability risk. India's population receives 38 percent of dietary
energy consumption from non-starchy foods owing to high
consumption of rice, said the index.
India's food quality is constrained by availability of Vitamin A
and iron which are below world average, and food supply also
contains relatively low quantities of quality protein. "On an
average, the greatest source of protein in India is from wheat,
rice and pulses. Based on this diet, the average person consumes
37 grams of quality protein..."
"The average person in low-income countries consumes 48.7 grams
and in a high income country 101.7 grams," the index said.
The Index has put India 76th in diet diversification, first in
government commitment to nutritional standards, 91st in
micronutrient availability, 85th in protein quality and 67th in
food safety.
The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) has been developed by
Economist Intelligence and is sponsored by Du Pont.
The index provided a framework to assess food security across
dimensions such as affordability, availability and safety and
quality and aims at deepening the dialogue on issues related to
food.
(Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in)
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