Nourishing India: There's a clear way to achieve a healthy future

Concerted policy efforts are needed even as the country implements existing schemes to ensure nobody is left undernourished

- ELISABETH FAURE & CYNTHIA MCCAFFREY

In pursuit of zero hunger, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 2 (SDG 2) is fundamental to achieving other SDGs, especially the first and the third goals, which aim to end poverty and safeguard the health of people. Malnutrition and hunger make individuals more susceptible to diseases and affects their productivity, income and quality of life, even as poverty limits people’s access to safe and nutritious food.

It is not an easy task. Globally, an estimated 148 million children are suffering from stunted growth, 45 million children are affected by wasting and almost 38 million are overweight. Approximately 735 million people—9% of the world’s population—are experiencing chronic hunger, and over 2 billion people are facing moderate to severe food insecurity. This challenge is compounded by the impact of global crises like the covid pandemic that set back progress on SDGs; climate change and its impact on land, soil and food sources, and on vulnerable populations, including children; the consequences of rapid urbanization and migration, and humanitarian crises arising from war and civil strife.

Despite these formidable challenges, India has reshaped, reoriented and reimagined its nutrition landscape, with policies and programmes that focus on the first 1,000 days of life, from conception till two years of age. The Joint Child Malnutrition estimates report for 2023 shows a decline in India’s share of the global burden of stunting, from 30% to 25%, over the last decade.