821 mn underfed globally, rural revival key to eco growth: Report

‘’The number of stunted children globally remains very high at 150 million despite a decline of 9 per cent between 2012 and 2017, and other nutrition indicators point to an even more difficult road to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),’’ says the report.

It notes that the progress in reducing anaemia among women of reproductive age and overweight among children has stagnated and adult obesity has continued to rise. The urgency of these developments was rarely reflected in global policy dialogues, and bilateral and multilateral funding commitments to the development agenda remained uneven and unpredictable.

Emphasising that rural revitalisation holds the key to solving global food security and malnutrition problems and stimulate economic growth, the Report attributes a global slowdown in achieving Sustainable Development Goals, climate targets and improvement in food and nutrition security to deepening crisis of rural hunger and malnutrition, persistent poverty, limited economic opportunities and environmental degradation.

The report, released here on Saturday, notes that the Indian government has invested in social protection programmes with the broad objective of bringing structural transformation through revitalisation of rural economy.

Yet, despite the progress, India continuously faces the challenge of climate change, risks on land degradation, deterioration of soil quality, and loss of biodiversity which has potentially slowed the rural transformation.

The report emphasises that rural areas could become premiere hubs of innovations in just under a decade with a focus on five building blocks: creating farm and non-farm rural employment opportunities; achieving gender equality; addressing environmental challenges; improving access to energy; and investing in good governance.

“India has unveiled several measures to boost rural economy and improve rural livelihoods by enhancing access to basic services, increasing investments in agriculture and rural infrastructure,” said Shahidur Rashid, Director for South Asia, IFPRI.

“Revitalising rural areas can stimulate economic growth and begin to address the crises in developing countries, and also tackle challenges holding back achievement of the SDGs and climate goals,” said Shenggen Fan, Director-General, IFPRI.