2013 Global Hunger Index

BOX 3.1 THE GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX (GHI) AND EXPOSURE TO METEOROLOGICAL DISASTERS

Not only the magnitude or frequency of a shock or stress, but also social, economic, and ecological factors characterizing a house- hold, a community, a region, or a country determine whether expo- sure to risk will turn into a disaster or whether absorption, adapta- tion, or transformation is possible (Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft 2012). Existing food and nutrition insecurity is one factor that increases vulnerability to shocks and stresses. The graph below shows selected developing countries according to both their existing vulnerability (represented by the GHI score) and their exposure to shocks (represented by the average share of the population affected by extreme weather events, mostly droughts and floods, in 1990–2009). Countries fall into four quadrants of the graph. The first quadrant shows countries that are less vulnerable to shocks (with a GHI score of less

than 10) and less exposed (with a disaster incidence of less than 2 percent). The second quadrant shows countries that are currently less vulnerable but still highly exposed to shocks, such as China. Countries in the third quadrant have high GHI scores but relatively low exposure to weather shocks (note that Haiti has been exposed to other kinds of shocks such as earthquakes). Such countries are very vulnerable to weather shocks, but less frequently exposed to them compared with countries in the fourth quadrant. Many of the countries in the fourth quadrant are perennially vulnerable to floods and droughts, including those in the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya), the Sahel (Chad, Niger, Sudan), Southern Africa (Malawi, Zambia), and South Asia (Bangladesh, India). Not surprisingly, these regions receive the bulk of the humanitarian assistance and also see most of the major international resilience-building efforts.

SELECTED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES’ VULNERABILITY AND EXPOSURE TO SHOCKS 40

10 15 20 25 30 35 40

35 Comoros 30

Timor-Leste Yemen

25 20

Central African R. Sierra Leone Congo, Rep.

Uganda

Côte d’lvoire Guinea

15

Nigeria Cameroon

Gambia 10 Indonesia

Dominican R. El Salvador

Moldova Ecuador

5 5 0 0 0 Suriname

Uzbekistan Panama

Mauritius Malaysia

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4

Quadrant 1: Less vulnerable and less exposed to shocks Quadrant 3: Vulnerable but less exposed to shocks

5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 Average share of population affected by weather shocks, 1990–2009 (%)

Quadrant 2: Less vulnerable but exposed to shocks Quadrant 4: Highly vulnerable and highly exposed to shocks

9 9 10 10

Senegal Mali

Togo Nepal

Madagascar Haiti

Pakistan Angola

Guinea- Bissau

Benin

Philippines Paraguay

Georgia Ghana

Colombia South Africa

Burkina Faso Tanzania

Liberia

Guatemala Rwanda

Botswana Bolivia Nicaragua

Honduras Vietnam

Peru Thailand Albania Guyana China Sri Lanka Mauritania Mongolia Lesotho Lao PDR Burundi Eritrea

Source: Authors, based on 2013 GHI scores and EM-DAT (2013).

Chad Sudan (former)

Ethiopia Mozambique

Namibia Tajikistan

Zambia India

Bangladesh Djibouti

Kenya Cambodia

Malawi Swaziland Niger

Note: “Population affected” refers to people who needed emergency assistance or were displaced. Graph does not include countries with GHI scores of 5 or less.

20

Understanding Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security | Chapter 03 | 2013 Global Hunger Index

2013 GHI score

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