Political governance and undernourishment in South Asia

Achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2.1, which focuses on nutritious and safe food for all , seems an arduous task with the slower pace in the reduction of undernourishment in South Asia countries. A substantial share of the global population lives in South Asia, and many of its countries face challenges in ensuring sufficient access to nutritious food for their citizens. These countries often grapple with socio-economic and political obstacles to guarantee an undernourishment-free society. Thus, this study empirically examines the role of political stability on undernourishment by controlling crucial factors such as food production, the share of dietary energy supply derived from cereals/roots/tubers, inflation, population, and unemployment in six major South Asian countries for the time period: 2001 to 2021. Owing to plausible cross-sectional dependency, heteroscedasticity, and autocorrelation across or within nations, the Panel-Corrected Standard Error model has been employed for the empirical analysis. The findings reveal that political stability can curb the prevalence of undernourishment. Moreover, food production can reduce undernourishment. However, inflation, population, and unemployment contribute to an increase in undernourishment. Addressing undernourishment in South Asian countries requires a coordinated and inclusive approach, considering the interconnectedness of inflation, population, and unemployment issues to achieve sustainable development goals.