“In every country, the health system is fixing the gaps in the food system given that diet-related complications are amongst the top ten causes of morbidity across the world and therefore the comprehensive approach is the need of the hour,” said Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), in a fireside chat with CNBC-Shereen TV18's Shereen Bhan at the Curtain Raiser of the CII Global Dialogue on Food Systems Transformation organized by CII in New Delhi.
He emphasized that, while India is performing well in terms of production, the challenge is more on the market side, where there is a high rate of food loss. This is also supported by the findings of the NFHS IV and V surveys, which show that while programme coverage has increased, malnutrition rates remain high. To help diversify diets, it is critical that we diversify the way food is produced and marketed.
"It is essential that we ensure access to safe and nutritious food to all segments of society," said Vinita Bali, Chairperson of the CII National Committee on Nutrition. “We have the infrastructure in India to deliver nutrition, whether through the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, or the Public Distribution System (PDS), and if implemented effectively, it can have a much larger impact. Towards the same, action is needed on many fronts and action is required simultaneously, and the Food Systems approach is a step in the right direction,” she added.
Some of the solutions proposed to address the issue in the Indian context included value chain interventions to decrease post-harvest losses, a focus from processing companies on fortification/reformulation, more PPP projects to improve access to nutrition, consumer awareness of healthy options, and innovative marketing to attract youth as nutrition ambassadors.
The event was organized in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition by the CII's Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE). The interaction aimed to set the context and shed light on aspects of food system transformation, with a focus on the interconnection between people, planet, and prosperity, and to instill a vision for adopting a food systems approach to meeting the SDGs. The interaction was a curtain raiser for the upcoming CII Global Dialogue on Food Systems Transformation scheduled for 20-21 April 2023 in New Delhi.
The two-day conference will aim to bring together global thought leaders from around the world and showcase best practises and implementation models from G20 countries. Given the diverse yet interconnected aspects of food systems, the first day of the Global Dialogue (April 20) will feature multiple thematic sessions on curated topics affecting food systems, such as nutrition, data science, agro-ecology, food waste, food safety, and so on.
On April 21, 2023, the inaugural session will be held, followed by three plenary sessions centred on the themes of People, Planet, and Prosperity. The sessions will seek to identify pathways for transforming food systems to assure sustainable production, food security, and nutrition for the global family, as well as to outline priorities and define actionable goals under the G20 umbrella.
The sessions will feature eminent speakers from the Indian government, international organizations, industry, and business. Being the B20 secretariat, CII is organizing the Global Dialogue on Food Systems Transformation as part of its B20 mandate.
