Agriculture-nutrition linkages and child undernutrition in India

Abstract

The South Asian region and in particular India, has one of the highest rates of child undernutrition in the world, and is home to around 40 per cent of the global total of children who are stunted. Child stunting has been shown to have severe lifelong economic, health, and cognitive disadvantages and costs. Despite improvements in some states in recent years, the levels continue to be high. Understanding the reasons for the high prevalence of child undernutrition in India in the face of the relatively strong economic performance has emerged as an important research topic and is an area of focus of LANSA’s research in the region. Under the research theme, ‘How enabling is the wider context in linking agriculture and food systems to other determinants of nutritional status?’, LANSA research in India focuses on understanding the barriers and facilitators to nutrition-sensitive agricultural development in the country. The analyses and empirical work on the available large secondary datasets from India are expected to elaborate on the pathways that connect agriculture and nutrition and the type and degree of interaction with other non-food drivers. This research brief summarises the key findings from some of the studies undertaken by LANSA partners, on agriculture-nutrition linkages and child undernutrition in India.