74% Indians could not afford healthy diet in 2021

74% Indians could not afford healthy diet in 2021

Subject : S&T

Section: IPR

Context:

• More than 74% of Indians could not afford a healthy diet in 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said in a report.

What is the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World(SOFI) Report?

• SOFI is an annual flagship report jointly prepared by: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organisation (WHO).
• Aim: To inform on progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and to provide an in-depth analysis of key challenges for achieving this goal in the context of the SDG.

What are the key findings of the SOFI 2023 related to India?

• Healthy diet: India has the lowest cost of a healthy diet among BRICS nations and neighboring countries. However, a significant portion of the population can’t afford it due to stagnant or decreasing incomes.
• For instance, meal costs in Mumbai increased by 65% in five years, while salaries/wages only grew by 28%-37%.
• Healthy diet in terms of Purchasing Power Parity(PPP): In India, a healthy diet costs 3.066 PPP dollars per person per day, the lowest among the countries considered.
• PPP stands for ‘Purchasing Power Parity’.In simple terms, 1 PPP dollar in the United States should buy the same amount of goods and services as 1 PPP dollar in, say, India or Brazil.
• Share of the population that is unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021: In India, 74% were not able to afford a healthy diet, the fourth highest share among the nations considered.
• Change in the cost of a healthy diet over the years across regions: Between 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021, the expense of maintaining a healthy diet increased by almost 9% in Asia — the highest across regions.
• Change in the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet over time across regions: Between 2019 and 2021, Asia and Africa saw the highest growth in the number of people who could not afford a healthy diet.
•  In Asia, South Asia had the highest number of people (1.4 billion) and the highest share (72%) who could not afford a healthy diet.

What is the Food and Agriculture Organization?

About:

• FAO is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16th October. The day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the founding of the FAO in 1945.
• It is one of the UN food aid organisations based in Rome (Italy). Its sister bodies are the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Initiatives Taken:

• Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).
• Monitors the Desert Locust situation throughout the world.
• The Codex Alimentarius Commission or CAC is the body responsible for all matters regarding the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
• The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the Thirty-First Session of the Conference of the FAO in 2001.

Flagship Publications:

• The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA).
• The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO).
• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).
• The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA).
• The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO).