Hunger And Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI)
The Hunger And Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) is a project of the Institute of Development Studies’ (IDS) with funding from Irish Aid, UKAid and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). The project produces an annual index1 (now in its second year) that ranks governments on their political commitment to tackling hunger and undernutrition2. It works with partners in five countries (Bangladesh, Malawi, Nepal, Tanzania and Zambia) to analyse government action on hunger and undernutrition in more detail and to support advocacy.
Hunger and undernutrition are amongst the most persistent global development challenges.. Reasons for insufficient progress in reducing hunger and undernutrition include lack of political will or political prioritisation. Strong and high level political commitment is essential to prioritise the fight against hunger and undernutrition.
The HANCI comprises two sub-indices: the Hunger Reduction Commitment Index (HRCI) Scores and the Nutrition Commitment Index (NCI) Scores. The Indicators comprise a Developing Country Index and a Donor Country Index. There is not a strong correlation between the country ranks of NCI and HRCI (i.e. commitment to hunger and nutrition are not the same thing).
Developing Country Index
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) and both are grouped under three themes:
- Laws (legal frameworks, e.g. the level of constitutional protection of the right to food)
- Policies (government programmes and policies, e.g. the extent to which nutrition features in national development policies/strategies)
- Spending (public expenditures, e.g. the percentage of government budgets spent on agriculture)
Donor Country Index
The HANCI project also produces an index to determine overall political commitment of donor countries to tackling hunger and undernutrition. This considers factors such as the amount of aid given for agriculture, food security and nutrition, and policies and treaties that could impact on hunger and nutrition levels in poor countries. The donor country indicators are applied to 23 OECD member countries that are compared based on 14 indicators. These indicators are split between indicators of commitment to hunger reduction (9 indicators) and indicators relating to commitment to addressing undernutrition (5 indicators). These are grouped in two ways: 1) policies, programmes and legal frameworks and 2) public expenditures.
For more information, including the 2013 report and latest news, visit: http://www.hancindex.org/?
1 http://www.hancindex.org/the-index/
2 Hunger is the result of an empty stomach; it makes people more susceptible to disease and thus leads to increased illness and death. Undernutrition is related to, though subtly different from, hunger. Undernutrition results from both a critical lack of nutrients in people’s diets and a weakened immune system. Undernutrition is not only a consequence of hunger, but can also exist in the absence of hunger, and can be caused by non-food factors
More like this
IDS 2013 Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) report
IDS has launched the 2013 Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) report which measures political commitment to tackling hunger and undernutrition in 45 developing countries.
NEX: Committing to nutrition: Raising nutrition up the political agenda in Tanzania
Tumaini Mikindo is the Executive Director of the Partnership for Nutrition in Tanzania (PANITA), a Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) civil society association. He has a Masters of...
FEX: Experiences of multi-sector programming in Malawi
By Felix Pensulo Phiri Lisez cet article en français ici Felix Pensulo Phiri is Director of Nutrition in the Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS, Ministry of Health,...
FEX: Multi-sector, nutrition-sensitive response to drought emergency in Pakistan
By Ali Dino Kunbher, Shafqat Ullah and Dr Mazhar Alam View this article as a pdf Click here to listen to an interview with the authors on the ENN podcast channel Ali Dino...
FEX: Linking agriculture with nutrition within SDG2: making a case for a dietary diversity indicator
By Anna Lartey Anna Lartey is Director of FAO's Nutrition Division within the Economic and Social Development Department at FAO in Rome. She was a Professor of Nutrition at...
FEX: Global Nutrition Report
This Global Nutrition Report (GNR) is the first in an annual series. It tracks worldwide progress in improving nutrition status, identifies bottlenecks to change, highlights...
NEX: Meeting the global nutrition targets 2025: Nepal’s unfinished agenda
View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici Kiran Rupakhetee is Division Chief/Joint Secretary of the Good Governance and Social Development Division,...
FEX: Role of communication and advocacy in scaling up nutrition: lessons and plans from the Zambian experience
By Eneya Phiri Lisez cet article en français ici Eneya Phiri is a seasoned advocate with four-and-a-half years' experience in nutrition advocacy and communications. He...
FEX: Update on Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) and the ‘1000 Day’ movements
By Tom Arnold and David Beckmann Tom Arnold is CEO of Concern Worldwide and David Beckmann is President of Bread for the World. Recognised globally as non-governmental...
FEX: The Humanitarian Response Index
Summary of published news1 A recent news piece in the Lancet covered the launch by Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, of an index that ranks 23 countries in the...
FEX: Addressing poverty and undernutrition in India
Women collect drinking water in West Bengal Gram Panchayat Summary of research1 There appears to be a paradox between the headline messages on inequality and what is actually...
NEX: Regional nutrition strategies to address the double burden in the Eastern Mediterranean
Dr Ayoub Al Jawaldeh has been the Regional Adviser for Nutrition in the WHO Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean Region since 2009, leading the Regional Nutrition...
FEX: Aid Transparency Index: ‘publish what you fund’
Summary of editorial1 On October 8th 2014, 'Publish What You Fund' - a not for profit organisation2 - published an 'Aid Transparency Index' measuring aid transparency amongst...
NEX: SUN Movement experiences in Indonesia
Nina Sardjunani is SUN Lead Group member, and Endang L. Achadi, Professsor in the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia. Background Undernutrition rates in...
FEX: Casual factors of wasting in Africa: What can be gleaned from available data?
View this article as a pdf This article reviews available national data from Africa to examine to what extent wasting could be explained by the underlying causes of...
FEX: 2022 Global Nutrition Report
View this article as a pdf This is a summary of the following report: Global Nutrition Report (2022) 2022 Global Nutrition Report: The state of global nutrition....
FEX: Global Hunger Index Report
The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report - the ninth in an annual series - presents a multidimensional measure of national, regional, and global hunger in the shape of the...
FEX: Improving the assessment and attribution of effects of development assistance for health
Summary of research1 Location: Global What we know: It is difficult to relate Overseas Development Assistance for health (DAH) and health outcomes; there are multiple funding...
FEX: Advocating for nutrition in West Africa: The role of SUN Civil Society Alliances
By Judith Kabore and Laure Serra View this article as a pdf Judith Kabore is an advocacy officer at the regional office of Action Against Hunger. A journalist by training,...
FEX: SUN Movement experiences in Indonesia
By Nina Sardjunani and Endang L. Achadi Lisez cet article en français ici Nina Sardjunani is the SUN Lead Group member and was previously Deputy Minister of Ministry...
Reference this page
Hunger And Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI). Field Exchange 49, March 2015. p51. www.ennonline.net/fex/49/hanci
(ENN_4872)