By Amin Ahmed
Published in Dawn on October, 15, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded the highest score in South Asia on the 2026 Global Hunger Index released on Wednesday, reflecting a worsening food security crisis driven by economic instability, climate shocks and global conflicts.
Published jointly by Welthungerhilfe, the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum, and the Swiss organisation Helvetas under the theme “No Security Without Food Security”, the report reveals that progress in South Asia has largely stagnated, with conditions in Pakistan and Afghanistan deteriorating since 2018.
In Pakistan, economic instability and sharp food price inflation have eroded households’ purchasing power and constrained access to food. Undernourishment in the country has climbed from low in 2018 to medium, while child wasting has risen toward the high threshold.
Across South Asia, the situation remains serious with a regional score of 23.5. Although the region’s score has fallen substantially from an alarming 37.5 in 2000, most of that progress occurred before 2018.
While Pakistan and Afghanistan have moved from the alarming to the serious category since 2000, child stunting remains very high.
Pakistan’s stunting rate continues to fall, whereas Afghanistan’s has edged up since 2018. Child mortality rates in both nations have declined from very high levels in 2000 to medium levels today.
The report warned that high levels of acute food insecurity will persist across the region. Heavy rains and flooding caused localised crop losses in parts of Pakistan and Bangladesh, while below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures negatively affected Afghanistan’s 2026 cereal-growing season.
According to Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates, 218 million people in South Asia, including Iran, were undernourished between 2023 and 2025, representing roughly one-third of the global total.
Globally, hunger is rising again after nearly two decades of progress. The 2026 global score stands at 18.1, worsening from 17.6 in 2018.
Hunger has increased in 32 countries since 2018, and 57 countries are on track to miss achieving even low hunger levels by 2030.
Three of the index’s four indicators — undernourishment, child stunting and child wasting — have worsened, while only child mortality has continued to decline slightly.
State-based armed conflicts, now at their highest level since World War II, alongside frequent extreme weather events, are major drivers of this reversal.
The war in Iran and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait are driving up fuel, transportation and fertiliser costs.
Meanwhile, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Black Sea export restrictions threaten higher wheat prices, making basic supplies unaffordable in the Global South.
Compounding the crisis, international spending on food security has fallen to 2016-2017 levels, forcing cuts to aid programmes and emergency rations. The report urged governments to reverse funding cuts for humanitarian assistance and data collection to prevent and manage future crises.
