What is in news : In a interview the representative and country director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Bishow Parajuli, said Eliminating social taboos with regard to food diversification is crucial for improving nourishment levels among the Indian population

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

• Is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.
• Strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminating the need for food aid itself.
• Member of the United Nations Development Group and part of its Executive Committee.
• Launched – 1961
• Working in India since 1963
• Pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life.
• Governed by an Executive Board which consists of representatives from member states.
• Funded by voluntary donations from world governments, corporations and private donors
• Aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS.
• The objectives:
  • Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies.
  • Support food security and nutrition and (re)build livelihoods in fragile settings and following emergencies.
  • Reduce risk and enable people, communities and countries to meet their own food and nutrition needs.
  • Reduce under-nutrition and break the inter-generational cycle of hunger.
  • Zero Hunger in 2030

OBSERVATIONS ON INDIA

• Transformed from a food-deficit country to a food-surplus country.
• With a biometric system – One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) –covering food supplies for nearly 800 million people, the midday meal (MDM) scheme catering to 120 million beneficiaries, and other schemes covering anganwadis, among others, India has improved on many fronts.
• Also, despite the amazing efforts taken during the pandemic, the issue of malnutrition persists in the country. It is unfortunate that high levels of stunting and anaemia are prevalent in some states.
• The recent announcement made by the prime minister towards rice fortification — distributed through ration shops, MDM or ICDS — is a good step forward. The latest decision to expand the MDM scheme to PM Poshan (The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) has been taken after a clear realisation that nutritional support is imperative from childhood till a certain age. These intensified efforts are expected to improve the situation.