Prof. Prabhu Pingali on Outlook Poshan 2.0 #ReachEachChild initiative launched by Outlook & Reckitt
Prof. Prabhu Pingali on Outlook Poshan 2.0 #ReachEachChild initiative launched by Outlook and Reckitt.
#OutlookPoshan #Nutrition #Health #Outlook #Poshan #OutlookPoshan #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
#OutlookPoshan #Nutrition #Health #Outlook #Poshan #OutlookPoshan #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
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00:00 Let me start by saying that India made tremendous progress on hunger reduction, calorie hunger
00:13 reduction.
00:14 I think if you imagine the last 70-75 years and what the situation in India was like in
00:25 terms of hunger, famine, massive food deficit, food insecurity and where we are today.
00:34 We've basically been able to use agriculture, agriculture productivity growth to address
00:42 calorie hunger.
00:43 There are still hungry people but it's not because of lack of food, lack of food supply.
00:51 It's become much more of an access issue.
00:54 So I think when we talk about the broader issues of nutrition, we should first stop
01:00 and say that we should celebrate the success we've had in hunger reduction.
01:08 Having said that, I think it's also important to say that even as we've addressed calorie
01:14 hunger, we've not been as successful in addressing micronutrient malnutrition.
01:21 We've not been able to address child stunting, child wasting.
01:27 We've not been good at providing access to a balanced diet of micronutrients, protein,
01:38 etc.
01:39 And now we're beginning to see this emergence of obesity, rising obesity and overweight
01:48 problems around the country.
01:50 And I think these are all challenges that we need to be dealing with and we need to
01:56 figure out how to address this challenge.
02:01 What's different today about the nutrition problem compared to what was the massive hunger
02:08 problem that we saw a few decades ago is that the nutrition problem is a multi-sectoral
02:17 problem.
02:18 It's not just a problem of increasing the productivity of rice and wheat.
02:25 It's an issue where from the agriculture sector point of view, we need to be looking
02:31 at diversity of the food system.
02:34 We need to be looking at ways in which we can produce a variety of foods, fruits, vegetables,
02:43 livestock products, etc. that are rich in protein, that are rich in vitamins, minerals,
02:51 etc. and that are affordable to the poor.
02:56 So that's one part of it.
02:58 That's an important part of it.
02:59 But it's also important that one addresses the problems of sanitation, access to clean
03:09 drinking water, access to toilets, access to public health facilities, etc.
03:17 Especially for women and children.
03:20 And that has to work in combination with anything that we do in enhancing agriculture productivity
03:28 and the diversity of the production system.
03:33 The third area I think is really important is thinking about behavior change.
03:40 Thinking about what does it mean to have a good diet.
03:45 What does it mean to have a diet that's balanced in nutrition, vitamins, minerals, protein,
03:56 etc. in addition to calories.
04:00 And a diet that helps children grow.
04:05 Especially as children are weaning and bringing better quality weaning foods into the diet.
04:13 And for women, especially women who are pregnant and women in the post-pregnancy period, etc.
04:24 So there's a lot of behavior change that needs to happen and better knowledge on what's good
04:31 diet, what's good eating practices, what's good lifestyle practices, etc.
04:38 And this behavior change is important not just from an under-nutrition point of view
04:44 but also from an over-nutrition and obesity point of view.
04:50 So there are all these multi-sectoral challenges when you think about addressing nutrition.
04:58 And I think that then implies that you need a convergence across ministries.
05:05 You need a convergence across groups that work on specifications.
05:12 So as you think about a successful portion, you'd think about a successful portion as
05:22 one in which the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Women
05:29 and Child Development, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, etc. all come together with a common
05:37 goal, a common set of objectives, a common set of activities that address the overall
05:47 issue of better nutrition.
05:50 Both from an under-nutrition point of view and also reducing the over-nutrition trends
05:57 that we're beginning to see.
05:59 So that convergence across sectors, that convergence across ministries is extremely important.
06:07 And I don't think we've seen enough progress happening in that area.
06:14 We still see goal setting, priority setting, etc. to be much more siloed than it ought
06:23 to be.
06:26 And as long as those silos exist, it will be hard to break through and create big gains
06:35 in reducing malnutrition in this country.
06:39 But I think this whole idea of convergence across ministries is a challenge that exists
06:46 across the world, across the developing world.
06:49 It's not just an India-specific problem.
06:53 But I think India could take a leadership in trying to say how do we address this problem.
06:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:02 (gentle music)