Sierra Leone has ranked 116th out of 125 countries in the 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, indicating a “serious” level of hunger in the country.

With a score of 31.3, the country falls behind its neighbors Liberia and Guinea-Bissau, and faces significant challenges in addressing food insecurity and malnutrition. Other countries behind Sierra Leone include Chad, Niger, Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Madagascar, Central Africa Republic.

Countries of Somalia, Burundi and South Sudan were not ranked although they followed the sequence. The recently released report was prepared jointly by the Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and the German organisation Welthungerhilfe.

The GHI is an annual report that measures and tracks hunger across the globe, using four key indicators: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality. Sierra Leone’s ranking reflects concerning levels of each, particularly in child health. While the Sierra Leone has shown progress compared to 2000, it still struggles to ensure adequate nutrition for its citizens, especially children.

The report highlights several areas of concern for Sierra Leone including:

Undernourishment: A significant portion of the population lacks sufficient caloric intake, impacting their health and productivity.

Child stunting: Many children under five suffer from chronic undernutrition, hindering their physical and cognitive development.

Child wasting: Acute undernutrition affects a considerable number of young children, increasing their risk of illness and death.

Child mortality: The rate of children dying before their fifth birthday remains high, partly due to inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

Despite these challenges, the report acknowledges improvements made by Sierra Leone since 2000. It emphasizes the need for continued efforts to address the root causes of hunger, such as household food insecurity, inadequate healthcare, and limited access to clean water and sanitation.

According to the report, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, China, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, UAE and Uruguay were ranked one to twenty five points aggregate.

GHI revealed that for 2023 GHI report, data were assessed for 136 countries, adding that out of the number, there were sufficient data to calculate 2023 GHI scores for and rank 125 countries by way of comparison, 121 countries were ranked in the 2022 report.