Morocco Trails Behind in 2022 Global Hunger Index

Rabat – While Morocco recorded a “low” level of hunger in the recent 2022 Global Hunger Index (GHI), the country’s indicator for hunger and undernourishment fell below international standards. 

With a score of 9.2, the report ranked the North African county 47th out of 121 countries, from least hungry to most hungry.

The report indicated that Morocco’s GHI Score Trend went from moderate GHI Severity Scales of 15.8 in 2000 and 12.4 in 2007 to low moderate scores of 9.6 in 2014 and 9.2 in 2022. 

The data shows that the North African country recorded a positive change of -4.2 since the year 2000.

The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst.

Prepared by European NGOs Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide, the GHI aims to measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels. The annual ranking is based on four indicators: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality.

Morocco’s child stunting score, which reflects the portion of children under five with a low height for their age from poor nutrition, has slightly improved, going from 15.8 in 2014 to 15.1 in 2022.

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However, the prevalence of undernourishment in the Moroccan population has increased, rising from 4.1 in 2014 to 5.6 in 2022. 

The mortality rate of children under five went from 2.5 in 2014 to 1.9 in 2022, whereas the share of Moroccan children under five with a low weight for their height went from 3.1 to 2.6.

Earlier this year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published a report indicating that the number of undernourished individuals in Morocco increased from 5.5 million between 2004 and 2006 to 5.6 million between 2019 and 2021.

Kuwait led the ranking in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with a low hunger level and a score of under 5. The UAE and Tunisia followed in the second and third place with a score of 5.3 and 6.1 respectively.

Iran and Saudi Arabia ranked fourth and fifth in the region, while Algeria ranked sixth. 

Morocco followed in the seventh position, surpassing Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, all of which recorded moderate GHI severity scales.

While Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Chile led the general ranking as the least hungry countries, Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria ranked at the bottom of the list with an “alarming” GHI Severity Scale.