WFP and Government of Uttar Pradesh Work Together to Address Malnutrition in Children
NEW DELHI: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) of Uttar Pradesh are setting up over 200 supplementary nutrition production units to support distribution under the government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme that, among other services, provides nutrition services to children under six years of age.
The agreement between the U.N. World Food Programme and SRLM’s representatives Yogesh Kumar, Mission Director, SRLM and Adeel Abbas was signed today in the presence of the State’s Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath.
“The Government of Uttar Pradesh is very pleased to partner with the U.N. World Food Programme over this innovative project,” said Manoj Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh. “The U.N. World Food Programme has the proven expertise in this area with long and diverse experience of setting up such take-home ration production units in other states in the country.”
The partnership, which will run through 2023, will potentially reach nearly 3.3M beneficiaries in 18 districts. Under the agreement, the U.N. World Food Programme will set up a single block-level production unit each in Bighapur, Unnao, Malva and Fatehpur. These will be fully automated production plants and will be used to train workers from other districts for a state-wide scale-up. Once set up, the production units will be run by women-led micro-enterprises.
“This partnership with the State Rural Livelihood Mission will go a long way in ensuring nutrition security as well as empowering rural women,” said Bishow Parajuli, U.N. World Food Programme Representative and Country Director in India. “Enhancing nutrition in children not only strengthens communities but also secures them a brighter future.”
The supplementary nutrition products will be distributed to communities as take-home rations, which are a proven solution in improving infant and young child feeding practices and prevention of malnutrition.
In addition to these new areas of cooperation, the U.N. World Food Programme has been supporting the state government in the fortification of mid-day meals in Varanasi and capacity building for cook helpers in schools. The U.N. World Food Programme has also extended technical support to the government to digitize Fair Price Shops and implement the One Nation, One Ration Card scheme in Uttar Pradesh.
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Contact: Sanjna Sudan, WFP/ New Delhi, sanjna.sudan@wfp.org; +91 8527677717
