India’s Agrifood Systems: Need for Reform & Policy Interventions

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India’s agrifood systems, from production to consumption, require reform to improve dietary diversity and ensure sustainable nutrition security. The country’s reliance on cereal-centric policies, dominated by wheat and rice, limits access to essential nutrients, contributing to the growing “double burden of malnutrition” — both undernutrition and obesity. Reforming these systems is essential to achieving SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and improving food security, dietary quality, and nutrition for all.

Need for Reform of India’s Agrifood Systems

Limited Dietary Diversity: Heavy reliance on wheat, rice, and sugar has led to poor dietary diversity, causing nutrient deficiencies. A shift to diverse crops is essential for better nutrition.
Double Burden of Malnutrition: While hunger has decreased, rising obesity from processed foods creates a “double burden” of undernutrition and obesity.
Access and Affordability: Over 55% of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2022, highlighting the need for better access to nutritious food.
Government Initiatives: Efforts to promote millets, procure pulses through PDS, and invest in food fortification must be expanded.
Policy Overhaul: India’s nutrition policy needs to focus on balanced, diversified diets, moving beyond cereal security.

Promoting Diverse Crop Production: Encourage growing millets & pulses through schemes like the National Food Security Mission & PLISMBP, supported by research from institutions like the Indian Institute of Millets Research.
Reforming the Public Distribution System (PDS): Include pulses and nutrient-rich foods like makhana in the PDS, building on the success of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which distributed over 1.2 million tons of pulses.
Enhancing Affordability: Use subsidies and programs like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) & National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture to make diverse, nutritious foods affordable, addressing the fact that 55.6% of the population couldn’t afford a healthy diet in 2022.
Food Fortification: Fortify staples like salt, oil, and flour with essential micronutrients, as seen in successful pilot programs that reduced anemia by 20%.
Regulating Processed Foods: Introduce taxes and clear labelling on ultra-processed foods to curb their rising consumption, which grew at 13.37% annually from 2011 to 2021.

Promote climate-resilient crops like millets, which require less water and are more tolerant to extreme weather conditions.
Reduce food waste through efficient distribution systems, improving supply chain management, and better storage facilities to minimize losses at every stage.

Support smallholder and marginal farmers by ensuring fair pricing, market access, and fostering economic viability.
Enhance value-added products & agro-processing to increase farmer incomes & strengthen rural economies.

Ensure equitable access to nutritious foods, especially for marginalised groups such as low-income families, rural communities, and women.
Promote gender equity in agriculture by empowering women farmers and encouraging their participation in decision-making processes.

Promoting Millets and Pulses:
- Millet Cultivation: Promote millet farming through subsidies, research (E.g., Indian Institute of Millets Research), and awareness campaigns. India accounted for 43.90% of global millet production, with 9.76 million hectares cultivated in 2021.
- Pulse Procurement and Distribution: Ensure active procurement and distribution of pulses via PDS, demonstrated during COVID-19 with 1.2 million tons under PMGKAY. Pulse production in 2024 was estimated at 24 million tons.
Reforming the Public Distribution System (PDS): PDS reforms should expand to include diverse foods and improve logistical efficiency. States like Chhattisgarh have shown positive impacts on diet diversity, suggesting scalability.
Enhancing Food Affordability: Targeted PDS (TPDS) covers 81.35 crore people but needs expansion to include more nutritious foods. Increased rural wages have made healthier diets more affordable but gaps remain.
Food Fortification and Supplementation: India’s long-standing food fortification programs include iodine in salt and vitamins in vanaspati. Recent efforts include fortifying rice with iron and wheat flour under PMGKAY to address micronutrient deficiencies.
Containing the Ill Effects of Processed Food: The ultra-processed food sector grew at 13.37% annually (2011-2021). Introducing nutrient-based taxes and labeling, as recommended by WHO, can help curb consumption and improve public health.

Affordability: Challenges include the high cost of nutritious foods, logistical issues in expanding PDS, and resistance to shifting from cereal-centric policies.
Malnutrition: The dual burden of undernutrition and obesity is a critical concern, with projections of 450 million overweight adults by 2050, calling for urgent action.
Coordination: Successful implementation requires coordination between central and state governments, the private sector, and the public, ensuring consistent policy execution.
Regional Variation: Dietary diversity varies across regions, with northern and central states showing higher MDD failure rates. State-specific PDS reforms and agricultural diversification are needed to address regional preferences.

Reforming India’s agrifood systems to enhance dietary diversity and ensure sustainable nutrition security is a complex, multi-dimensional task. By focusing on improving production, distribution, affordability, fortification, education, and governance, India can mitigate the dual burden of malnutrition and make significant progress toward achieving SDG 2 (Zero Hunger).
Reference: Business Standard

Introduction: Begin by briefly outlining India’s existing agrifood system, highlighting its focus on cereal production and its limitations.
Body: Discuss specific strategies like promoting millet and pulses cultivation, reforming the PDS to include diverse foods, enhancing affordability through subsidies, etc., while addressing processed food’s negative impact.
Conclusion: End by connecting the reforms to sustainability, ensuring alignment with SDG 2 and long-term nutrition security.