Central Asian states have made great strides in recent decades in battling hunger. But in Tajikistan, hundreds of thousands of the country’s roughly 10mn inhabitants still don’t get enough to eat, according to a new global survey. 

The GlobalHungerIndexfor 2024 shows that Tajikistan is now the only country in Central Asia where hunger is a cause for concern. The other four states in the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – were deemed in the low-risk category, according to the survey. The index relied on a variety of metrics, including undernourishment, child stunting and wasting, and mortality rates to determine its rankings.

The region achieved “notable progress between 2000 and 2016, though this progress has largely come to a standstill since 2016,” according to GHI. “Reductions are linked to improvements in agricultural production and productivity, driven by economic and income growth, and an overall increase in food availability, stability, and access.”

Global warming, weather-related natural disasters and the Russia-Ukraine war pose ongoing threats to food security across the region by raising the costs of food, energy and agricultural production. “Despite agriculture’s economic significance, almost all countries in the region are underinvesting in the sector,” the survey added.

Since 2000, according to GHI metrics, Tajikistan has moved from the “alarming” risk category to the “moderate” level. Even so, the 2024 survey found that almost 9% of Tajik citizens are undernourished. It also reported that almost one in five Tajik children under five are stunted due to malnourishment and 3% of children die before their fifth birthday.

Uzbekistan is the Central Asian state that has made the most progress over the past quarter century in reducing hunger. In 2000, the threat of hunger in Uzbekistan was rated as “serious” by GHI. In the latest survey, GHI reported the threat of hunger was the lowest in Central Asia.

The countries of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – were all at low risk of hunger, the GHI survey found.

This article first appeared on Eurasianet here.