More hunger looms over Burundi and DRC: Report

Severe hunger looms over the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, says the 2009 Global Hunger Index.

The index indicates that DRC tops the list of 29 worst hit countries, followed by Burundi, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Chad and Ethiopia.

“Low-income countries are being hurt by food and financial crises,” said Klaus von Grebmer, lead author of the report and communications director of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The report, released ahead of the World Food Day, shows that high rates of hunger are linked to gender inequalities, especially in terms of literacy and access to education. It highlights the countries most vulnerable to the global economic downturn.

The research institute says 29 countries in the world have alarming levels of hunger, and 13 have had increases in hunger levels since 1990.

“The crises have significantly reduced the purchasing power and income-earning opportunities of poor people, who spend up to 70 per cent of their income on food. The price of food in many countries is still higher than it was several years ago,” Dr Klaus said.

The Global Hunger Index scores, however, are distressingly high throughout sub-Saharan Africa, which has made the least progress in combating hunger, with only a 13 per cent decline in its score since 1990.

Of the 10 countries with the largest increase in Index scores, nine are in sub-Saharan Africa.

The score for the DRC has increased by an appalling 53 per cent.

Africa is also home to the highest proportion of undernourished people — 76 and 68 per cent of the population, respectively, in the DRC and Eritrea.

It has the world’s highest child mortality rate, at 26 per cent in Sierra Leone.

The countries that suffer from alarming levels of hunger are also vulnerable to the global recession — Burundi and DRC being examples.

They are most vulnerable in trade, foreign direct investment, aid and remittances. Poor countries also had high levels of gender inequality.

The situation is very serious in Chad, which ranks fifth worst country on the Global Hunger Index.

Chad is second on gender inequality, and has a shockingly low female literacy rate of 13 per cent, compared with 41 per cent for men.