Reporters at top media outlets around the world covered the 2015 Global Hunger Index to help tell the story of the one in nine people who still go hungry. The Washington Post’s Adam Taylor used a series of maps to give readers a visual overview of the report while the International Business Times’ Ludovica Iaccino included the new interactive map—which reporters can embed into their stories—to help readers understand the extent hunger around the world.
In “Hunger Levels Drop by a Quarter in Developing Countries, but ‘Alarming’ Levels Persist,” Lucy Westcott at Newsweek included an interview with IFPRI Research Fellow Emeritus Klaus von Grebmer to further explain the report and Nigeria bureau chief Michelle Faul wrote a piece for the Associated Press that was picked up by Fox News, The New York Times, and others. CNBC’s Ansuya Harjani explored the countries that topped this year’s GHI: the Central African Republic, Chad, and Zambia.
This year’s report had a particular focus on conflict, which was explored extensively by the reporters who covered the report. This was an angle explored by the BBC’s Mark Kinver in his article, “Conflict drives ‘alarming’ global hunger, report shows.” Mark Anderson at The Guardian also explored this aspect, mentioning that “armed conflict, which has cut civilians off from food supplies, is behind high levels of hunger in Central African Republic, which ranked bottom of this year’s index.”
Lawrence Haddad and Purnima Menon wrote an op-ed for The Indian Express that explored hunger and malnutrition in light of the GHI’s release. On the heels of the September release of the Global Nutrition Report, Haddad and Menon reiterated the importance effective investments in the fight to end global hunger. According to the op-ed, “for every rupee spent on effective nutrition programs, Rs16 can come back through improved productivity in the labor force. Talk about impressive rates of return on investment.”
Throughout the year, reporters, policymakers, and the public will continue to cite the Global Hunger Index. IFPRI is happy to help spread awareness about this important resource. Ending hunger can happen within our lifetime—and it’s critical that we have the tools and resources to make the right decisions.
An Overview of the Media Coverage
The 2015 GHI has received great media coverage since its launch. As of the morning of October 13, GHI has got over 1,081 media hits* in 695 media outlets from 46 countries in six continents. The hit map (located in the sidebar) indicates global news coverage of the 2015 GHI.
* Total hit number includes reprints.