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IDS Releases Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI)
On 11 April, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) published its Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) which ranks governments on their political commitment to tackling hunger and undernutrition.
April 12, 2013 - Last update: July 4, 2022
On 11 April, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) published its Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) which ranks governments on their political commitment to tackling hunger and undernutrition.
There are many reasons for insufficient progress in reducing hunger and undernutrition. One of these is a “lack of political will” or political prioritisation. Strong and high level political commitment is essential to prioritise the fight against hunger and undernutrition. HANCI measures political commitment to reducing hunger and undernutrition, among both developing and developed countries.
HANCI compares and ranks the performance of 45 developing countries based on 22 indicators of political commitment. The indicators are split between indicators of commitment to hunger reduction (10 indicators) and indicators relating to commitment to addressing undernutrition (12 indicators). In both sets they are grouped under three themes:
- Legal frameworks (for example the level of constitutional protection of the right to food)
- Policies and programmes (for example the extent to which nutrition features in national development policies/strategies)
- Public expenditures (for example the percentage of government budgets spent on agriculture)
