Creating Aspirations in Aspiration District Yadgir, a Pre-Industrial Pocket of India

IN A NUTSHELL
Author's note
...We are implementing a unique project to address malnutrition and provide rural livelihoods in Yadgir District, Karnataka, supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India in partnership with Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) and Centre for Sustainable Technology (CST), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) Development Research Foundation are our field partners. Project details and progress are available at our website https://publicnutrition.aurosociety.org/

A valuable lesson that we have learnt so far in our journey for bringing about the much required behaviour change and belief systems change in the community and family is that children are the most aspirational and influential agents to create that change...

By  Ms. Veena S Rao, IAS (Retd)

Director,  Auro Centre for Public Nutrition, Public Health and Public Policy 

Bangalore, India 

Creating Aspirations in Aspiration District Yadgir, a Pre-Industrial Pocket of India

 

 General Background

The Government of India in 2018 initiated the Aspirational Districts Programme with the aim to transform 112 most under-developed districts of the country, quickly and effectively. The broad contours of the programme are convergence of State and Central programmes, collaboration of Central, State and District administrators, and competition among the districts through monthly delta ranking, all driven by a mass movement. The ranking is based on the incremental progress made across 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under 5 broad socio-economic themes – Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development and Infrastructure.[1]

One such Aspiration District is Yadgir District in the state of Karnataka which is also the most backward district of the State. The policy of the Auro Centre for Public Nutrition, Public Health and Public Policy (ACPN) a vertical of Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) Pondicherry, is to work in the most backward regions of the country.

We are implementing a unique project, “Establishing SHG/FPO[2] enterprises to address malnutrition and provide rural livelihoods in Yadgir District, Karnataka”, supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India in partnership with Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) and Centre for Sustainable Technology (CST), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) Development Research Foundation are our field partners. Project details and progress are available at our website https://publicnutrition.aurosociety.org/

This is a unique, holistic, multi-sectoral, development project covering Horticulture, Women’s Empowerment, Nutrition and Education. Our project began in 2022 with a Base Line Survey of the two poorest quintile households of the District, and was accompanied by a multi-layered communication strategy for behavior change at community level.[3]

I am placing below an extract which tells us just how poor and worrisome the human development indicators of Yadgir District are.

  • 20% of mothers of children below 3 years (all migrant labourers) said that their infants did not consume any complementary food until they were about 2 years. The mothers said that whenever the infants were given something from the family food, mostly roti, dal, idli (a soft steamed cake made from rice and lentils) or ganji (soft boiled rice), they were not able to digest it and became ill. All the mothers were migrant workers and did not access any benefits from ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services).
  • Among children aged 6-35 years, about 64.5% are either stunted, or wasted or underweight. The proportion of children (both boys and girls) under 3 years who are not stunted, not wasted or not underweight decreases as the age increases, implying that their nutritional status/health deteriorates as they grow older.
  • Among children aged 3-5 years about 72.79% are either stunted or wasted or underweight. The proportion of children (both boys and girls) who are not stunted, not wasted and not underweight decreases as age increases, implying that the nutritional status/health of the children is deteriorating as they grow older.
  • About 17.5% of adolescent girls and 7.2% of the adolescent boys (between 11-18 years) are illiterate. None of the girls have studied up to class 10, and about 20% of boys are in class 10. Overall, about 47.39% adolescent girls and 52.9% adolescent boys are severely underweight and 27.96% girls and 30.77% boys are moderately underweight. About 57% of mothers of children under 3 years and 63.5% mothers of children between 3-5 years are illiterate. Consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy products constitute a very small part of the daily diet.
The Table below shows some Baseline Survey Indicators compared with NFHS 5[4] Indicators for Karnataka State and Yadgir District
BLS Yadgir District NFHS 5-Yadgir District NFHS 5-Karnataka State
Percentage children under five years % (N) %(N) %(N)
Stunted* 47.9 (698) 57.6(215) 35.4 (6785)
Wasted* 32.5 (695) 17.7 (209) 19.5 (6563)
Underweight* 53.5 (703) 45.2 (219) 32.9 (6991)
Adolescent BMI (% BMI < 18.5 – total thin)$ (11-18 years) (15-19 years)
Boys 83.3 (221) – 47.1 (576)
Girls 75.4 (211) – 42.4 (3993)

*Statistically Significant differences at 95% CI and p < 0.05

 

I have always maintained that one of the root causes for persistent undernutrition, anemia and calorie-protein-micronutrient deficiency among large sections of India’s population, especially the poorest 30-40 percent, is a complete vacuum in the market for low cost, fortified nutritious foods, which I call the market deficit.

The daily diets of the poorest families are meagre, subsistence diets and do not provide the balanced nutrition required for healthy growth of children and adolescents during rapid growth periods, for women during pregnancy and lactation, for all age groups of both genders during or after illness, and complementary food for infants after 6 months of age. Even though the per capita income has more than quadrupled in the last decade, the vast dietary deficit in terms of protein, calorie and micronutrients remains among around 50% of our population of both sexes and all age groups.[5]

A Feasibility Study conducted through KPMG in 2018 under the World Bank funded Karnataka Multi-sectoral Nutrition Pilot Projects[6] implemented by the Karnataka Comprehensive Nutrition Mission, gives a firm finding that there is a direct correlation between high incidence of low weight, stunting and wasting among children, low body mass index and stunting among adolescents, and lack of affordable fortified energy food in the market.  The study calculates a market demand of 42 million tons of low-cost energy food per year.

Data regarding severe child malnutrition and wasting on a real time basis in the Karnataka Multi-sectoral Nutrition Pilot Projects, led by the author, confirmed that all cases of severely malnourished/wasted children were from households where both parents were engaged in construction or agricultural labour. The infants were left under the care of elder siblings or grandparents, and apart from some roti (flat bread), rice and pulses, which the infants could not eat, there was no other food in the house. And there was no affordable, nutritive children’s food available in the market.

Availability of affordable, nutritious food in the market assumed even greater importance during the COVID 19 pandemic – lockdown and post lockdown. Reports from the field categorically informed that poor rural families were on a survival diet of rice and wheat given under PDS (Public Distribution System), and sometimes some dal. In many villages, even after the pandemic, there continued to be no milk or any other food for children. A study done by Azim Premji University confirmed this[7].

On the other hand, India, one of the largest fruit and vegetable producers in the world loses a large percentage of production due to spoilage and post-harvest losses because of lack of primary processing facilities, fuel-efficient post-harvest technology and hygienic storage facilities. Horticultural loss estimates vary from 15% to 40%.[8] [9] In the absence of primary processing facilities for preservation or processing, it is to be expected that the wastage of horticulture produce will continue unless simpler methods using alternative source of energy and more decentralized operations at the grassroots for processing and preserving horticulture produce are introduced.

Our project therefore included that a Production Unit would be set up for producing fortified nutritious multi-grain food, VitaPoshan, for children, adolescents, adults and family, also using locally available horticulture produce with short shelf life, primarily tomatoes and bananas, through simple energy friendly rural technology.  Women SHGs would be trained for running the production unit with hand-holding support from us and for marketing VitaPoshan within the District. This would fill the huge technology gap that exists in Yadgir District, provide the poorest sections of the community access to affordable nutritious food, and prevent wastage of horticultural produce.

I am informed that our production unit will be the first medium scale production unit being set up in Yadgir District, though there are some small industrial units for cleaning pulses and cotton, the main agricultural crops of Yadgir District. In fact, I often describe Yadgir District as a “pre-industrial pocket of India”!

In short, the Project Objectives are: 

  • Provide livelihoods to SHGs/FPOs through Innovative Farm Based Enterprises, Value Chains and Market Linkages.
  • Address malnutrition, reduce anaemia and improve the health status of the community and provide fortified nutritious food to the rural poor – to children, adolescents, adults and family.
  • Prevent wastage of fruits and vegetables, reduce losses during glut season, arrest distress sales and reduce market risks.
  • Provide cash income to the SHGs/FPOs and contribute to their economic empowerment.
  • Build capacity of FPOs/SHGs, improve the quality of life of women through value added income generation and marketing of nutritive horticultural products preserved/dehydrated/processed through fuel efficient, green energy. 

Project Interventions, Completed and Ongoing:

  • Baseline Survey and Socio-Economic survey have been completed (2022). [10] The indicators are extremely worrisome and need urgent interventions. (Summary above)
  • SHG mobilization and Information Education Communication (IEC) Campaign for Behaviour Change is ongoing. Advocacy material is being given to the SHGs with personal counselling regarding proper child, adolescent and maternal care, and proper dietary practices within family budgets.
  • Product Development, Nutrition Analysis and Shelf Life Tests have been completed for all the four VitaPoshan products.
  • A green, environment friendly, Production Unit is being set up by KSCST and CST, for producing fortified nutritious food, VitaPoshan, for children, adolescents, adults and a special nutritious family food, which is a fortified blend of pulses and tomato powder. Trial Production is expected to start by end of June 2024 and regular production is expected to start in July 2024.
  • Marketing of products produced by the SHG women, will be done through a hybrid Marketing Strategy involving marketing by SHGs, traditional retail and wholesale distribution networks, on-line sales. Marketing training of women SHGs is going on.

We eagerly await VitaPoshan to start reaching the community, and hope to see an improvement in the human development indicators of the poorest households of the community.

A valuable Lesson Learnt

A valuable lesson that we have learnt so far in our journey for bringing about the much required behaviour change and belief systems change in the community and family is that children are the most aspirational and influential agents to create that change. We saw for ourselves how they actually created aspirations in this Aspirational District.

Initially, we had started the behaviour change programme with tried and tested methods of engaging with the women SHG members and village influencers.  Awareness generation activities were organized in villages focusing on basic child, adolescent and maternal care, and proper nutritional practices within family budgets. However, we realized that we were not creating any impact. We debated amongst ourselves – perhaps this indifference was on account of lack of trust which the community seemed to show for any kind of behaviour change messaging; perhaps their cynicism within the culture of poverty was too strong to allow them to believe the messages. After all, they had lived in this subsistence state for generations and had come to accept it with a sense of fatalism.

After much discussion and brain storming with our field partners, we finally concluded that the most influential agents of change in this generational subsistence society were the children, as they held a very special place in the family. The boys are treated as assets to take care of their parents once they are old and unable to work, and the girls are considered as temporary inmates who would move away to their marital homes after some years.  We learnt that parents here generally are very indulgent towards their children.

We therefore took a decision that we would start the behaviour change programmes through students in the senior schools. Relevant themes that were urgently required to be disseminated were selected and age appropriate IEC material in the form of posters and films were developed.

The themes covered were:

  1. Importance of balanced diet and consumption of locally available fruits and vegetables
  2. Not coming to school on an empty stomach
  3. Avoiding junk food
  4. Importance of clean drinking water and sanitation
  5. Causes of anemia and how to prevent it
  6. Intergeneration lifecycle of Malnutrition

IEC programmes were conducted in 40 senior schools across the district from November, 2022 onwards. The programmes were made more interesting through films[11], quizzes and games so that children could enjoy them and take home the messages to their parents. We deliberately selected schools in the most backward and remote villages of the district, many of which did not even have motorable roads.

Impact of Our Programme

An Impact Assessment was conducted in April 2023, across 40 schools in 37 villages, that covered formal interviews with students, parents and teachers.[12] The observations were extremely encouraging.

  • There were positive behaviour changes in around 60% families
  • Many students started eating sprouts and local fruits daily
  • All children started eating a meal before coming to school
  • Children started asking their parents for a variety of fruits and vegetables
  • Students realised the risks of junk food and chose healthier options like chikki (peanut and jiggery toffee) and banana as a snack
  • Students were not wasting vegetables served as part of their school mid-day meal
  • Teachers reported that the health of students who followed the messages has improved
  • Students were more active; they participated in games and had better concentration in the classroom

We were extremely happy that our experiment of starting behavior change and creating aspirations in the family through children worked. I hope this important learning will be useful for other development agencies, NGOs, and field workers operating in the poorest regions of the world.

 

References

[1] https://www.niti.gov.in/aspirational-districts-programme

[2] SHG- Self Help Group; FPO-Farmer Producer Organization

[3] https://publicnutrition.aurosociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Baseline-and-Social-Survey-Yadgir.pdf

[4] National Family Health Survey 5, 2019-2020

[5] NFHS 5, 2019-20; Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016-18; NNMB 3rd Repeat Survey (2012; NNMB Report 27, 2017

[6]http://karnutmission.org.in/documents/New_Feasibility_Study.pdf

[7]https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Compilation-of-findings-APU-COVID-19-Livelihoods-Survey_Final.pdf

[8]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374116896_Post_harvest_losses_of_fruits_and_vegetables_in_India

[9] https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/40-vegetables-fruits-get-wasted-in-india-iari-director#google_vignette

[10] https://publicnutrition.aurosociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Baseline-and-Social-Survey-Yadgir.pdf

[11] The films can be viewed @ https://publicnutrition .aurosociety.org/gallery/

[12] : https://publicnutrition.aurosociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/27-4-Impact-Assessment.pdf

 

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By the same Author on PEAH

Karnataka Multisectoral Nutrition Pilot Project (2014-2018): Some Significant New Evidence Based Findings and Need for Further Research

Multisectoral Nutrition Interventions: Impact and Transitions in Undernutrition, Stunting and Wasting in Children – An Open Experiment in Two Remote Blocks of Karnataka

Nourishing India – What Needs to Be Done