Indus Valley Times

Odisha targets zero-malnutrition by 2036

By Swagatika Bhutia

Bhubaneswar, Sept 29: The state of Odisha, despite the political will to deliver and transform, still reels under malnutrition. So far as the tribal communities, who constitute 22.85% of the state’s population, are concerned, the problem of malnutrition is critical and perpetual, said Basanta Kumar Kar, Chief Advisor-cum-Mentor, Coalition of Food and Nutrition Security (CFNS).

Kar was speaking at a webinar titled – Tribal Nutrition to Supercharge Odisha’s Demographic Dividend – here on Wednesday. The webinar was jointly organised by Bhubaneswar-based non-profit Centre for Youth and Social Development, CFNS and Odisha Development Initiative to mark the Poshan Maah (September 1-30) or the nutrition month. The webinar aims at providing a platform to work together with the government for a malnutrition-free Odisha.

Hailing the state’s nutrition strategy, Kar maintained that it is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and World Health Assembly targets. Odisha demonstrated an increase in complementary feeding rate by 20% in the period between 2015-16 and 2019-21, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), he added.

Despite this, around 42.1% of the under-5 tribal children are stunted; 22.8% wasted; and 72.9% anaemic, according to NFHS, said Kar. These figures are higher than that of the general category. In general category, the figures are 31%; 18.1% and 64.2% respectively. As far as women are concerned, the prevalence of anaemia among tribal and general category is 71.7% and 64.3% respectively, pointed out Kar.

Jagadananda, Mentor and Co-Founder of CYSD, underlined the need for a multi-stakeholder partnership not only to reduce the difference but to end malnutrition. The stakeholders need a robust planning and execution to end malnutrition by 2036, the year of Odisha’s centenary celebration. Jagadananda hailed the institutional arrangements like State Food Commission, Agriculture Cabinet, Millet Mission and a separate Nutrition Budget to address the crisis. He, however, emphasizedthat the planning and monitoring need to be done at community level.

Ranglal Jamuda, Board Secretary CFNS, underlined the need to realize Community Forest Rights and Community Forest Resources Rights under the Forest Rights Act to ensure nutrition security of the tribal communities.

“The tribes share a symbiotic relationship with the forests they dwell in. Lack of ownership of tribals over their forests, on which they have been depending on for generations, and thus conserving it for sustainable use, lead to loss of forest cover, loss of their forest-based livelihood and vanishing of forest food. All these take a toll on their food security,” pointed out Jamuda, who was the first chairperson of Odisha State Food Commission.

While hailing the Odisha Millet Mission that can play a very important role in regaining not only calorie but micronutrient and protein, Jamuda emphasized that the government needs to initiate measures to ensure local consumption of millets. This apart, there should be provisions for primary millet processing units and value addition, Jamuda added further.

Pramod Kumar Merkap, Chairperson, Odisha State Food Commission, highlighted that in order to achieve nutritional security of the tribes, the planning should be micro-level and need based. He underlined the need for proper implementation of Van Dhan Yojana that aims at value addition of minor forest produce (MFP) and development of MFP value chain. “It is an important tool to improve the tribal income and thus can ensure nutritional security,” he added.

Merkap further said that campaigns like ‘Anaemia Mukta Laqshya Abhiyan’ (Amlan) that combine national and global best practices in reducing anaemia can go a long way in ensuring nutritional security in tribal areas.

Sourav Bhattacharjee, Nutrition Specialist, Unicef-Odisha, gave an insight into the wasting in tribals. He underscored the need of timely detection and enrolment of Severe Acute Malnourished (SAM) children into Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme.

Sneha Mishra, Secretary, Aaina, a city-based NGO, delivered the welcome address and Dr Mukesh Sahoo proposed the vote of thanks.

Among others, senior policy makers, political leaders, bureaucrats and development practitioners attended the webinar.