Jordan ranks 38th on Global Hunger Index

Published 21 Oct,2021 via The Jordan Times - Jordan ranks 38th on the Global Hunger Index, with a low level of hunger in the Kingdom, according to the 2021 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report.

The GHI releases annual reports to raise awareness and understanding about the struggle against hunger. A total of 139 countries were assessed for the 2021 report and the data was collected from 2013-2021, according to the GHI website.

According to the index, almost 10 per cent of Jordanians have health conditions as a result of nutritional deficiency.

The report added that the Kingdom has a 1.6 per cent mortality rate for children under five years old, reflecting a mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

The rate of stunted growth in children under five years old in Jordan stands at 7.5 per cent, which, according to the GHI, demonstrates chronic under-nutrition.

“Jordan is considered a food secure country with 6 per cent of the population receiving some form of assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP),” according to the WFP website.

Although Jordan holds a secure GHI score of 8.3, the Kingdom faces major challenges; including a lack of agricultural recourses, limited agricultural land and water scarcity, as well as a growing number of refugees, the WFP website states.

According to data from the Department of Statistics (DoS), 15.7 per cent of Jordanians are “poor”, yet only 0.12 per cent of Jordanians are considered hungry due to poverty.

As for the Arab region, Somalia’s score indicated “alarming” rates of hunger, alongside Syria, South Sudan and Yemen.

The level of hunger in Jordan has decreased by 23.1 per cent since 2000, according to the GHI.

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