Dairy and Nutrition: Ensuring Food Security for India’s Future
Manju Lata, Assistant Professor
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, 263145, District: U.S. Nagar, State: Uttarakhand, India
Corresponding author: manjundri1@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
India’s growing population, projected to exceed 1.4 billion by 2030, intensifies the country’s food security challenges. This paper examines the evolving landscape of food security in India, highlighting the urgency of addressing issues in food production, distribution, and access. With agriculture as the primary sector, climate-resilient approaches are essential to withstand unpredictable weather patterns. Sustainable farming practices, technological advancements, and crop diversification are evaluated for their potential to boost agricultural productivity. Emphasis is placed on precision agriculture and innovative techniques to increase yields and conserve resources. Market dynamics and distribution systems are analysed to ensure food availability and accessibility. Government policies, including subsidies, public distribution systems, and safety nets, are assessed for their impact on food security, alongside the influence of international trade agreements. The paper advocates for comprehensive policies encompassing sustainable agriculture, resource management, improved market access, and enhanced nutrition, with technology as a key driver of change. It aims to provide actionable insights for achieving equitable food access in India by 2030.
Keywords: Food Security, Malnutrition, Sustainability Farming, Sustainable Development, Food Supply Chain, Social Safety Net
INTRODUCTION:
Agriculture assumes a pivotal role in securing not just sustenance but also adequate nutrition, serving as the bedrock for food production, an essential aspect in achieving nutritional security. Extensive research consistently underscores the significance of agricultural growth in reducing malnutrition. The correlation between agricultural advancement and nutrition is robust, emphasizing the critical role of increased food production in bridging the gap between agricultural progress and improved nutrition. This nexus is particularly evident in India, where historical emphasis on food security revolved around grain sufficiency. While meeting dietary energy needs through grains is undeniably crucial, the importance of dietary diversity cannot be overstated in fulfilling broader nutrient requirements. Studies revealed the multifaceted shifts in India’s food consumption patterns due to factors such as economic growth, demographic changes, and evolving lifestyles. As income levels ascend, there’s a notable increase in the availability and consumption of diverse food items, particularly high-value horticultural produce and animal-based products. This transformation in dietary habits marks a notable departure from traditional reliance solely on staple grains. This shift towards a more diverse and nutrient-rich diet in India holds immense promise, poised to yield positive impacts on overall health and nutritional outcomes.
FOOD SECURITY FRAMEWORK:
The World Food Summit in 1996 has formally adopted the Right to Adequate Food, which addresses the issue of food security. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (World Food Summit, 1996). Food security is a multi dimensional concept and extends beyond the production, availability, and demand for food (Pieters, et al., 2013). As per the World Food Program (2008), Food and Nutrition Security can be divided into two broad categories-Food and Nutrition Status and Stability of Food and Nutrition Status.
Food and Nutrition Status is further classified into three categories:
Food availability addresses the supply side of food security, which is determined by the levels of food production, stocks, and net trade.
Access to food is concerned with the ability of people to meet their minimum food requirements over a sustained period.
Utilization is the way the body makes the most of the various nutrients in the food. Combined with good biological utilization of food consumed, this determines the nutritional status of individuals.
DAIRY CONSUMPTION NUTRITION:
Milk and dairy products provide essential nourishment to billions of people worldwide. From young children to older adults, milk can contribute to health and active lives of everyone. Milk is the third biggest supplier of protein and the fifth largest provider of energy, thus improving global nutrition and strengthening human health. Milk and dairy products are dense in nutrients, rich in energy and good in protein with a range of essential micronutrients such as, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and phosphorus, which are available in an easily absorbed form (Betchthold et al., 2019). Many research studies suggests that, milk and dairy products play a key role in healthy human nutrition and development throughout life, especially in childhood.
Today, India is not just only the global leading milk producer, but also the largest consumer of milk. According to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the per capita milk availability is 406gms/day in 2019-20, which is higher than global average. A statistics from FAO informs that about 80% of the milk production comes from small farmers in rural areas. But, there is a clear rural–urban divide in consumption of milk and milk products; this magnifies the calcium and vitamin D deficiency. Also, the per capita monthly expenditure for consumption of milk and milk products in rural is Rs. 116 while comparing to that of urban area where the expenditure is Rs. 187. The reason for the increase in milk production can be attributed to rising population numbers, along with greater product affordability and availability in the retail and foodservice sectors. So, while looking into milk consumption an intersectional analysis is comparatively important than just an overall analysis.
FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY IN INDIA:
The hunger and malnutrition has been continuing in India for decades now. Despite being the world‘s largest food producer and fastest-growing food exporter, India ranked 71st out of 113 nations in the Global Food Security Index, 2021, and 101st out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index, 2021. According to the Global Nutrition Report (2020), India is among the top three countries that are severely hit by malnutrition and the report concludes that India loses 4% of its GDP annually due to malnutrition. If we look into the consecutive fourth (2015-16) and fifth (2019-21) national family health survey, there has been no impressive decrease in any type of malnutrition throughout the course of the five years between 2016 and 2021. With between 720 and 811 million people suffering from hunger in 2020, milk and dairy products can significantly contribute to a Zero Hunger not only in India but globally. In India 70.5 percent of the population is unable to afford a healthy diet and the cost of healthy diet per person is around 243 rupees per day. Hence, for the sustainable development of the country, finding solutions to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition is the key.
PATHWAYS FROM DAIRY TO FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY:
Dairying provides livelihoods to millions of the poorest in India and for many it is the sole source of livelihood bringing cash into their hands, twice a day across the year. In India, as same the case in many other developing countries, the distribution of livestock among the poorest is far more equitable than the distribution of land. Livestock, therefore, play an extremely critical role in supporting and sustaining livelihoods of a large number of poor. Livestock are often the only livelihood option available to the landless as common property resources are being increasingly captured by individuals for private gain. Dairy enterprise in rural areas is considered employment and income; thus called as cushion for drought proofing in India. The sector involves millions of resource-poor farmers, for whom animal ownership ensures critical livelihood, sustainable farming, and economic stability. There are multiple pathways, both negative and positive that links dairying or livestock keeping in general to food and nutrition security (Figure 2). The direct pathway is that dairy production increases the household incomes, thus increasing the affordability to purchase more food and a wider variety of foods. Dairying is considered as a secondary occupation for about 69 percent of India‘s farming to be a ―treasure of the Indian economy. It provides nutrition, animal power, manure, community. It contributes close to a one third of the gross income of rural households and in the case of those without land, nearly half of their gross income and in turn enables access to nutritional diets and ensures food security too. Also, it facilitates access to a ready supply of meat and milk provides a constant source of animal proteins for poor people who cannot afford to buy these products, or alternatively, are unable to produce these products from their farm. It is equally important to look into the negative links between dairying and food and nutritional security like spread on animal pathogens to human, drudgery etc, as we look into the positive links. The various pathways linking dairying to food and nutritional security should be explored so as to tap the sector‘s potential as a tool achieve food and nutritional security and to find entry points so as to implement effective interventions.
DAIRYING AND WOMEN’S NUTRITION:
The gender gap in food and nutrition security is expanding (Pell et al., 2010). According to SOFI (2021), 31.9 per cent of women are moderately to severely food insecure while comparing with men (27.6%). Being the largest workforce in livestock and dairying, the women suffer negative impact because of drudgery filled farm activities on their health and nutrition. While dairying gives the livelihood security, control over income and access to food to women, it also has both positive and negative effects on women‘s health and nutrition. In developing countries, poultry and small ruminants are often owned by women, the income from which makes them more empowered and their families more nutritionally secure (Neelakantan and Sonne, 2017). Being a regular source of income and having higher involvement of women in this sector, dairying has indisputable potential to enable women‘s access to resources, nutritious diets and health practices (Kohler-Rollefson, 2012). Thus, dairying as a tool to empower women and it has the potential to bring food and nutritional security.
Milk is being considered as a “complete food” because of its rich contents of protein, fat, carbohydrates, all known vitamins and various minerals essential for sustaining life and maintaining good health. Therefore, it has a place of honour in dietary recommendations (Ohlan, 2016). As part of a balanced diet, milk and dairy products can be an important source of dietary energy, protein, and fat and they are rich in micronutrients critical for fighting malnutrition in developing countries where the diets of poor people are often starch or cereal-based and lack diversity (FAO, 2016). The evidence suggested that the intake of milk and dairy products are associated with reduced risk of childhood obesity. Milk and dairy products play a role in preventing diet-related non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and certain cancers (Thorning, et al., 2016). Dairy farmers are providing nutritious food to a large segment of society and helping in achieving the utilization dimension of food security.
Milk and dairy products are nutrient-dense foods, supplying energy and high-quality protein with a range of essential micronutrients (especially calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and phosphorus) in an easily absorbed form. Milk minerals are crucial for human health and development as well as in dairy processes as cheese-making and for all traits involving salt-protein interactions. They play a key role in healthy human nutrition and development throughout life, but especially in childhood. Dairy products are rich in nutrients that are essential for good bone health, including calcium, protein, vitamin D, potassium, and phosphorus. Adequate calcium intake influences skeletal calcium retention during growth and thus affects peak bone mass achieved in early adulthood. The high levels of calcium play an important role in the development, strength, and density of bones for children and in the prevention of bone loss and osteoporotic fractures in elderly people. Calcium also has been shown to be beneficial in reducing cholesterol absorption, and in controlling body weight and blood pressure.
MILK CONSUMPTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABLE:
Producing, processing and distributing milk and dairy products, like other foods, affects the planet. Dairy production systems are important and complex sources of GHG emissions, notably of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Globally, the dairy sector accounts for around four percent of all anthropogenic GHG emissions, of which milk production, processing and transportation account for 2.7 percent. Dairy production systems also contribute to other environmental issues, notably water resource management, through withdrawals, modification of runoff and release of pollutants. Growing and providing food does entail some environmental effects and efforts are ongoing in the dairy sector to reduce the intensity of emissions.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE DAIRY PRODUCTION PROGRAMMES:
Nutrition is most likely to be affected by dairy production programming via two pathways: increased milk availability from production leading to increased direct consumption; and improved access to higher-quality foods as a result of increased income. Whether diet improves as a result of increases in income depends on the recipient’s understanding the need for good nutrition; if they do not, the additional income may be used to buy more of the same foods or foods of lesser quality. Dairy production programmes tend to be more effective than traditional agriculture production interventions if strategies included: targeting inputs to women; the introduction of small livestock; and communication about the nutritional value of milk.
LINKAGE BETWEEN DAIRY DEVELOPMENT AND NUTRITION:
Governments, development agencies and the private sector all have roles to play. Nutrition-sensitive dairy-industry development is likely to be more effective if it is applied in an environment where there is high-level political commitment and improved nutrition is generally promoted.
In developing countries, governments may have a strong role to play by:
Identifying national nutritional challenges, promoting measurement of nutritional status and providing dietary guidelines. If a strong national nutrition strategy exists, this provides a framework onto which to add a dairy programme.
PUBLIC FOOD DISTRIBUTION:
Integrating dairy products into public food distribution systems can further enhance their availability to those in need.
Government Initiatives:
NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT (NFSA):
The NFSA provides subsidized food grains, which can be complemented by dairy products to enhance nutritional value.
POSHAN ABHIYAN:
This program focuses on nutrition and aims to improve the nutritional status of children and women.
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS):
ICDS provides supplementary nutrition through Anganwadi centers, including dairy products, to improve the health and development of children and pregnant/lactating women.
CONCLUSION:
The scope of dairying and livestock keeping has been discussed extensively by various researchers, globally. Rather than only focusing on production, productivity, processing and marketing of the milk and other dairy products, focusing on gender related connections to dairy like income generation, women empowerment and nutrition would help India to get rid of malnourishment and nutrient deficiency diseases. For this, identification of pathways and linking the key entry points need to be analyzed, so that context specific interventions can be implemented for ensuring food and nutritional security.
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