Population That cannot Afford a Healthy Diet on Rise

Syllabus: GS3/Economy

Context

• As per a research, published in the journal Nature Food, the share of the population that cannot afford a healthy diet has been on the rise.
  • It was conducted under the Food Systems Countdown Initiative, led by United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. 

Major Highlights

• The study evaluates 42 key indicators of food systems, categorised into five themes:
  • Diets, nutrition and health;
  • Environment, natural resources and production; 
  • Livelihoods, poverty and equity; 
  • Resilience;
  • Governance.
• Of the 42 indicators, 20 have been trending in a desirable direction since 2000.
• There is also a rise in the population experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity.
• These indicators, which have worsened globally, pull down the progress needed to achieve SDGs and other global targets. 

Global Targets

• Goal 2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is all about creating a world free of hunger by 2030.
• The 2024 Global Hunger Index score for the world is 18.3, with 42 countries still experiencing alarming or serious hunger.
  • Hunger is most severe in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where the crisis has soared to humanitarian levels. 
• Little progress has been made on reducing hunger since 2016, and the prospects for achieving Zero Hunger by the target date of 2030 are grim.

Status in India

• India has been ranked 105th out of 127 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024, placing it in the “serious” category for hunger levels. 
• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023 report states that around 224 million people in India faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021-22.

India’s Efforts to achieve zero hunger by 2030

• Mid Day Meal Programme: The Programme aims to boost enrolment, retention, and attendance while improving the nutritional status of children in government, local body, and government-aided schools.
• Food Fortification: The government promotes fortified rice, wheat flour, and edible oils as part of the public distribution system.
• The National Food Security Act, 2013: The Act provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
• Poshan Tracker: The Ministry of Women and Child Development developed the Poshan Tracker ICT application as a key governance tool.
  • It uses WHO’s expanded tables with day-based z-scores to dynamically assess stunting, wasting, underweight, and obesity in children based on height, weight, gender, and age.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was launched to alleviate hardships faced by the poor due to economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
• SakshamAnganwadi and Poshan 2.0 includes key schemes such as the POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent Girls as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. 

Source: DTE