Tag: acute malnutrition

We’re Still Asking the Wrong Question About Food Insecurity in India

While there is a reduction in hunger narrowly defined as not being on an ’empty stomach’, food security needs to be redefined as ‘having access to safe and nutritious food that meets dietary needs and preferences’.

The United Nations marks October 16th as the ‘World Food Day’. In October every year, since 2006, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) is also released by a group of international organisations – Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe, and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV).

India usually ranks poorly. India’s GHI rank for this year 105 out of 127 countries. During the last few years, the GHI caused a lot of controversy in the country with media and opposition parties highlighting the poor rank on the one hand and the Union government strongly rejecting the report entirely on the basis of objections to the methodology and data sources used.

One of the points of discussion is whether GHI reflects ‘hunger’ as we usually understand it, as it is a combined index of the
Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO’s) ‘prevalence of undernutrition’ (PoU) indicator along with indicators of child undernutrition (stunting and wasting) and child mortality (under-5 mortality). The latter indicators are determined by multiple factors, including but not just food security. Rather than repeating this debate, what this occasion of World Food Day should be used for is to review the status of food security in the country along with attention to the current priorities and challenges. 

A step forward

During the last two decades, India has made a lot of progress in reducing hunger and malnutrition. The prevalence of stunting among children has reduced from 48% in 2005-06 (NFHS-3) to 35.5% in 2019-21 (NFHS-5). PoU has reduced from 21.4% during 2004-06 to 13.7% during 2020-22. Along with better living standards for many, the expansion in government welfare programmes related to food and nutrition over the last 20 years has also made a significant contribution to reducing hunger.

Also read: NHA: What the Health Expenditure Data Tells Us and the Questions That Remain

During the 2000s, many states increased coverage under the public distribution system (PDS) and introduced lower prices of food grains. This eventually culminated in the passage of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013 which made access to subsidised grains, for 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population, a legal entitlement.

Following Supreme Court orders in the ‘Right to Food’ case, which started in 2001, hot, cooked meals in government schools through the mid-day meal scheme was rolled out across the country. Anganwadi centres, which provided supplementary nutrition along with other education and health services to children under six years of age, pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls, were universalised and an attempt was made to cover all villages and urban slums. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) was passed in 2005 and social security pensions scheme for the aged, single women and disabled was also streamlined across the country.

While some states, especially in South India, had many of these initiatives since earlier, there was a massive expansion across the country during 2004 – 2014, through initiatives of both central and state governments. As a result, these entitlement-based welfare schemes became well entrenched. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the distribution of grains to NFSA beneficiaries has been made free under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY).

Gaps remain

However, some significant gaps remain. The existing programmes have plateaued in coverage and resources. When it comes to PDS, the number of beneficiaries has not been updated based on population increase as the decennial Census has not taken place since 2011.

Also read: Beyond Food Security: It’s Time India Focus its Policy Efforts on Concerns Over Dietary Diversity

The Union government’s real budgets allocated to school meals and Anganwadis have been consistently falling. Salaries of Anganwadi workers have not been increased. Contributions to social security pensions have remained the same for more than 15 years. Maternity entitlements are still measly (Rs 5,000 per pregnant woman) and child care services (creches) hardly exist. It is perturbing that these programmes are all being neglected despite the evidence showing their significant role in bringing about change.

As we look ahead on what needs to be done for food security, two issues need to be highlighted. First, although there have been improvements discussed above, the goal of ‘food security for all’ is nowhere close to being achieved. While there is a reduction in hunger narrowly defined as not being on an empty stomach, ‘food security’ defined as ‘having access to safe and nutritious food that meets dietary needs and preferences’ is still not a reality for a large section of the population. Child malnutrition levels and micronutrient deficiencies (e.g. anaemia) are still at unacceptably high levels.

Second, across the world and in India, there have been indications of food insecurity over the last few years. Globally, PoU declined from 13.2% in 2002 to 7.1% in 2017, however there has been an increase since to 9.1% in 2023. Corresponding figures for India are 22% in 2002 to 10.3% in 2017 and 13.7% in 2023. 

Dipa Sinha is a development economist.

Yemen Cholera Outbreak Accelerates to Over 10,000 Cases per Week, Says WHO

Since Yemen’s cholera epidemic erupted in April 2017, a total of 1.2 million suspected cases have been reported with 2,515 deaths.

Geneva: Yemen‘s cholera outbreak – the worst in the world – is accelerating again, with roughly 10,000 suspected cases now reported per week, the latest data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed on Tuesday.

That is double the average rate for the first eight months of the year, when 154,527 suspected cases of cholera – which can kill a child within hours if untreated – were recorded across the country, with 196 deaths.

WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said 185,160 suspected cholera cases were reported into September.

Some 1.8 million Yemeni children are malnourished, making them more vulnerable to disease, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says. They include nearly 400,000 whose lives are at risk from severe acute malnutrition.

Since Yemen‘s cholera epidemic erupted in April 2017, a total of 1.2 million suspected cases have been reported with 2,515 deaths, Jasarevic told a news briefing. Children account for 30% of infections.

“We have been seeing the number of cholera cases increasing in Yemen since June. This increase has been even more important in the last three weeks,” Jasarevic said.

In the first week of September, nearly 11,500 suspected cases were reported, up from 9,425 the week before, he said.

The charity Save the Children said air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in late July had damaged a sanitation facility and water station that supplies water to Hodeidah, a port city and supply lifeline held by Houthi forces.

“After this incident, suspected cholera cases almost doubled between July (732) and August (1,342) in Save the Children-supported health centres,” it said.

The WHO said 16% of Yemen‘s cholera cases were in Hodeidah where only half of the health facilities are operational.

If caught early, the acute diarrhoea can be treated with oral hydration salts, but more severe cases require intravenous fluids and antibiotics.

The WHO is administering vaccinations, targeting 540,000 people in three vulnerable districts in Hodeidah and Ibb governorates. In a first round, 387,000 people – 72% of those targeted – received an initial dose, Jasarevic said, adding that the organisation wanted to extend the programme to other parts of Yemen.

(Reuters)