• The Sustainable Development Goal 2- Zero Hunger aims to end hunger and ensure year-round access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food by 2030.
• India has made many efforts such as Mission Poshan 2.0, National Food Security Act (NFSA), Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) etc, to achieve SDG 2.
• However, the data of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) raises serious concerns related to food security of India.

Zero Food Prevalence in India

NFHS-5 Data:

• As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), among mothers with a child between ages 6-23 months, 18 percent reported that their child did not eat any food, referred to as “zero-food”, in the 24 hours preceding the survey.
• Zero-food prevalence:
• 30 percent for infants aged 6-11 months.
• 13 percent among the 12-17 months old.
• 8 percent among the 18-23 months old.
• An estimated 60 lakh zero-food children of 6-23 months of age in India not getting to eat every day lies substantial deprivations in specific food groups.
• More than 80 percent had not consumed any protein-rich foods for an entire day (“zero-protein”).

• 40 percent did not eat any grains (roti, rice, etc) for an entire day.
• 6 out of 10 children do not consume milk or dairy of any form every day (“zero milk”).

Daily minimum calorie intake for a child as per the World Health Organisation (WHO):

• At six months of age, 33 percent of the daily calorie intake is expected to come from food.
• At 12 months of age, 61 percent of the daily calorie intake is expected to come from food.
• It is presumed that the child obtains the remaining calories through breastfeeding, meaning the child is breastfed whenever they need it throughout the day and night, and not solely when the mother can provide it.
• Percentage of food-sourced calories only increases further when a child cannot receive breast milk when needed.

What needs to be done?

• It is time to elevate food intake among young children to be of primary importance, as opposed to being referred to as “complementary” in policies and guidelines related to maternal, infant, and young child nutrition.
• Access to adequate and affordable nutritious food is equally necessary for mothers for healthy breastfeeding.
• A national effort to establish routine dietary and nutritional assessments for the entire population is the need of the hour.
• Measuring the availability, accessibility and affordability of nutritious food, especially for disadvantaged and vulnerable populations such as young children, constitutes the foundation for any evidence-based policy to end hunger and improve nutritional security among Indians

SDG 2 and India

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2:

• Goal 2- Zero hunger, which aims to end hunger and ensure year-round access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food by 2030.

India’s efforts toward achieving SDG 2:

Mission Poshan 2.0

• Mission Poshan 2.0, the overarching flagship programme dedicated to maternal and child nutrition.
• It has evolved in the right direction by targeting SDG 2 “zero hunger”.
• It is focusing on food-based initiatives, including its flagship supplementary nutrition programme service as mandated by the 2013 National Food Security Act (NFSA).
• Need: to effectively monitor and assess the performance of Poshan 2.0, there is an immediate need to develop appropriate food-based metrics.
• The zero-food metric provides a good start.

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)

• Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) increased access to improved toilets among Indian households from 48 percent to 70 percent between 2016 and 2021.
• It offers valuable insights for Poshan 2.0, in its strategic use of directly trackable metrics, as well as a strong political commitment at the highest levels.

Other Initiatives by the Government:

Rashtriya Poshan Maah

Poshan Abhiyaan

Saksham Anganwadi

Global Scenario:

• Global food production and distribution systems are disrupted due to Covid-19 and the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.
• United States (US) recently prioritized ending hunger by 2030 and launched a high-level White House initiative on hunger, nutrition, and health.

To achieve the SDG of zero hunger, and building on the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY), India should consider a strategic initiative led by the Prime Minister’s Office aimed at eliminating food insecurity in India and ensuring affordable access to sufficient quantity and quality of nutritionally diverse food, with a special and immediate focus on India’s youngest children.