Courtesy- of - www.sudantribune.com

A report by the Global hunger Index has ranked South Sudan among countries with alarming hunger severity despite insufficient data.

According to the 2021 GHI ranking of countries with sufficient data, Somalia has the highest level of hunger with a score of 50.8 percent.

This is considered extremely alarming.

Somalia is followed by five other counties, mainly Yemen with a score of 45.1, Central African Republic with 48.2, Chad 39.6, the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a 39.0 and Madagascar with 36.3 percent.

Madagascar is the only country with an alarming 2021 GHI score that is not experiencing conflict.

Countries at alarming level of hunger with insufficient data includes Burundi, Comoros, South Sudan and Syrian Arab Republic.

The Integrated food Security phase classification report of 2020 indicated acute food insecurity in South Sudan with some counties categorized as phase five.

Based on the current GHI projections, the world as a whole and 47 countries in particular will fail to achieve a low level of hunger by 2030.

The report cited, conflict, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic as three of the most powerful and toxic forces driving hunger.

These it said threaten to wipe out any progress that has been made against hunger in recent years.

The Global Hunger Index is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.

GHI scores were based on the values of four component indicators that includes undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality.

The reports recommended that in order to achieve the SDGs and leave no one behind, humanity must vigorously confront the increasing challenges of conflict, climate change, and economic down-turns.

It also said countries should tackle structural factors such as poverty and inequality that leave people facing hunger and malnutrition.

It further stated that while eliminating current conflict seems out of reach, there is need to make incremental steps toward breaking the cycle of hunger and conflict by recognizing and committing to address the unique challenges facing food systems in conflict settings.