Mathur Ritika Passi

more expensive non-cereal foods like pulses,
milk and other dairy products is limited.
Therefore, the evident decline in cereal
consumption indicates a lowering of the
energy requirements of the poor and leads to
serious nutritional implications.
Target 2.2 aims to “end all forms of
malnutrition” by 2030. In order to
address the prevalence of malnutrition
and undernourishment among children,
nutrition programmes like the Integrated
Child Development Services (ICDS) and
the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) have
been introduced in the country. 22 The
central objective of the ICDS is the holistic
development of children up to the age of six
years, with a very special focus on children
up to the age of two years. It also caters to
expecting and lactating mothers. Services
such as basic health checkups, immunisation,
referral services, supplementary feeding,
non-formal pre-school education, and
required advice on essential health practices
and nutrition are administered through the
scheme. 23 However, despite its expansion
and popularity over the last three decades,
its impact, outreach and coverage have been
limited.
Similarly, the MDMS, which targets around
120 million children across 1.2 million
schools is technically the world’s largest food
distribution programme for children. 24 But
irregular service, bad hygiene and extremely
poor quality of food have marred the
effectiveness of the programme.
It can be observed that there is a high degree
of synergy between SDG 2 and national
priorities in India regarding hunger and
nutrition. Policies focused on achieving the
set targets are already in place, although their
execution has been disappointing. In order
for India to achieve food security, it needs to
focus on increasing the coverage of existing
schemes to ensure effective universalisation.
Further, the schemes need to be re-evaluated
and modified for greater inclusivity and
optimum impact. Unfortunately, the SDG
agenda is limited to setting targets and goals
and does not explicitly map out pathways to
achieve the targets, which would have been
more beneficial in India’s case.
Sustainable Agriculture AND Food
Security
The recognition of sustainable agriculture as
being intrinsic to achieving long-term food
security (targets 2.3, 2.4) is a welcome step
for countries like India, where agriculture is
not only critical to the country’s GDP, but is
also a major source of employment in rural
areas.
In India, where the contribution of the
agricultural sector in the economy has
been declining, the push for promoting
sustainable agricultural practices is
new. In 2010, the government launched
the National Mission on Sustainable
Agriculture, with the aim of devising and
promoting adaptation and mitigation
strategies for ensuring food security,
equitable access to food resources,
enhancing livelihood opportunities and
contributing to economic stability at the
national level. 25
Target 2.3 also highlights the need
to protect the rights, and double the
productivity, of women farmers, indigenous
people, family farmers, pastoralists and
fishers. This is in sync with India’s national
priorities as articulated under the Twelfth
Five Year Plan (2013-2017), where in
addition to improving the performance
of agriculture and diversifying produce,
reducing vulnerabilities of small and
marginal farmers—with special focus on
women and other disadvantaged groups—is
a key priority.
Furthermore, Indian agriculture is highly
susceptible to climatic variations. The
impact is felt on both farmers’ livelihood
and the national economy. Therefore,
overdependence on non-renewable natural
resources for economic growth can
foreclose future outcomes. Target 2.4, along
with the proposed indicators, can be the
required push necessary to approach the
issue devising agricultural practices that are
climate resilient and sustainable.
Interestingly, the government is supporting
several small-level initiatives where local
indigenous crop seeds are being promoted
over modified seeds. Moreover, in
Sundarbans, West Bengal, the government
and the National Council for Rural
Institute, Hyderabad, are promoting
a saline-tolerant rice variety that can
withstand high levels of salt in the soil in
the occasion of disasters like hurricanes
and cyclones. This salt-tolerant variety,
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