The 2011 GHI score fell by 18 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa compared with the 1990 score.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s GHI score stagnated between 1990 and 1996, fell slightly until 2001, and declined more markedly up to the period reflected in the 2011 GHI.

All of the countries with “extremely alarming” levels of hunger—Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Eritrea—are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Out of six countries in which the hunger situation actually worsened (five of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa), the DRC stands out; its GHI score rose about 63 percent owing to conflict and political instability. The DRC has the highest proportion of undernourished people—about 70 percent of the population.

More than 50 percent of the population is also undernourished in Burundi and Eritrea.

The DRC has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, along with Afghanistan, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Sierra Leone.

Among all of the countries ranked in the 2011 Global Hunger Index, Gabon had the lowest score and thus the lowest level of hunger.

Only one country in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana, is among the ten countries that most improved their GHI scores since 1990, having reduced its score by 59 percent. Ghana’s success resulted from a combination of investments in agriculture, rural development, education, and health, including strong increases in the rate of immunization against common childhood diseases.