Better nourishment

BY Editorial16 Oct 2017 5:16 PM GMT

World Food Day observed each year on 16th October is not just an event to celebrated but an occasion to focus our attention on sustainability in terms of food, bring more awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger, and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. All these concentrated efforts are aimed towards achieving the target of Zero Hunger. The Sustainable Development Goals aim to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, making sure all people, especially children and the more vulnerable, have access to sufficient and nutritious food all year round. As per the latest FAO data, about 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger (out of 7.6 billion - as of October 2017), that is one in nine people, and 60 per cent of them are women. It is said that hunger kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS put together. While global hunger appears to be on the rise affecting about 11

While global hunger appears to be on the rise affecting about 11 per cent of the world population, FAO data revealed that the number of undernourished people on the planet has also increased to 815 million in 2016, up from 777 million in 2015. Malnutrition is a situation where there is an unbalanced diet in which some nutrients are in excess, lacking, or in wrong proportion, and manifests as either under-nutrition and/or over-nutrition. Despite India's 50 per cent increase in GDP since 1991, more than one-third of the world's malnourished children live in India. Among these, half of them under 3 are underweight and a third of wealthiest children are over-nutriented. The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world, and is nearly double that of Sub Saharan Africa with dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity, and economic growth. The WHO obesity report in The Lancet gave India the dubious distinction of being the most

The WHO obesity report in The Lancet gave India the dubious distinction of being the most malnutritioned country in the world. The Global Hunger Index showed India worse off than North Korea, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh Stunting is another very critical result of lack of nutrition among children. It indicates that people suffer from chronic hunger. Stunting is a reduced growth rate in human development, with respect to both physical and mental development. While the condition of children who are underweight (low weight for age) and wasted (low weight for height) can be reversed with good food and care that ensure less infection, such catch-up is not possible for stunted malnourished children. The loss is irreversible after a given period. A 2014 study published in Pediatrics and International Child Health says stunting begins in utero and continues for the first two years of postnatal life. All possible corrections have to be made in this period.

In the context of the food security debate in India, it is imperative to understand that poor nutrition is not a consequence of a lack of food. In fact, according to most reports, India is food secure. However, this does not mean that food is being distributed equitably. Schemes, allied with other government-sponsored programmes like the Integrated Child Development Services, have played a significant part in reducing the number of stunted children less than five years of age. But such corrections seem ambitious in areas where people do not have enough to eat. Large-scale food wastage is not a trivial problem in a country, where nearly 27 crore people live below the poverty line. As per a study by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, India is wasting up to 67 million tonnes of food every year. This amount of food can feed the state of Bihar for an entire year. According to data published by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries on Tuesday, harvest and post-harvest loss of India's major agricultural

As per a study by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, India is wasting up to 67 million tonnes of food every year. This amount of food can feed the state of Bihar for an entire year. According to data published by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries on Tuesday, harvest and post-harvest loss of India's major agricultural produce are approximately Rs 92,651 crore. This is nearly two-thirds of what it costs the government to feed almost half of the population with subsidised rations under the National Food Security scheme. Another damning statistic is that from 2013 to 2015, approximately 40,000 tonnes of food grains were wasted in godowns operated by the Food Corporation of India. In other words, the problem is not with hotels, restaurants or other such commercial establishments, but a severe structural problem at the production and distribution levels.

The lack of an efficient cold storage (warehouse) network in India results in the degradation of large quantities of perishable goods, while they are being transported from the field to the market. Analysts contend that the government needs to invest more time and money in building a more robust storage network to reduce wastage. There is a strong link between better storage facilities and food security-agricultural growth. Allied with other poor supply chain management practices, India has become a significant contributor towards food wastage both at pre and post-harvest waste in cereals, pulses, fruits, and vegetables. For a better cold-chain infrastructure, however, a lot more needs to be done. In a very pleasant development that must be recognised, on 16 October, to celebrate World Food Day, FIFA and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) organised a special event for 70 girls at a Feeding India shelter home in Delhi. The kids were busy playing indoor games and drawing, completely unaware of the surprise waiting for them on the veranda, when all of a sudden,

There is a strong link between better storage facilities and food security-agricultural growth. Allied with other poor supply chain management practices, India has become a significant contributor towards food wastage both at pre and post-harvest waste in cereals, pulses, fruits, and vegetables. For a better cold-chain infrastructure, however, a lot more needs to be done. In a very pleasant development that must be recognised, on 16 October, to celebrate World Food Day, FIFA and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) organised a special event for 70 girls at a Feeding India shelter home in Delhi. The kids were busy playing indoor games and drawing, completely unaware of the surprise waiting for them on the veranda, when all of a sudden, Kheleo, the highly popular Official Mascot for the tournament, walked in with some Hunger Heroes carrying delicious food. After the tasty morsels had been handed out, Kheleo unveiled the main surprise of the day by distributing footballs to the 70 girls.

Better nourishment

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