Palghar, Maharashtra

Palghar district of Maharashtra is dominated by a high tribal population and lies between the two major cities of Mumbai and Nashik. It consists of 7 talukas Vada, Vikramgad, Jawhar, Mokhada, Dahanu, Talasari and Vasai-Virar.

Agriculture is predominantly the main source of livelihood in this region. Unfortunately, owing to its hilly terrain, the yield season is restricted to the monsoon and seasonal migration for employment during the rest of the year is quite a common sight.

In November 2015, Action Against Hunger on request of Ministry of Health Maharashtra and UNICEF Maharashtra undertook a cross sectional survey called the SMART survey in Jawhar, Mokhada and Vikramgad blocks of Palghar district to explore the prevalence of undernutrition in children. The Jawhar and Mokhada survey highlighted startling figures with rates of stunting at 70.8 %, wasting at 40.4 % and 9.1 % of children under 5 years of age being severely wasted.

In response to the emergency emerging in Palghar, Action Against Hunger began its work in 2016 in Mokhada and later in Jawhar.

Amravati (Dharni), Maharashtra

Famous for its Tiger Reserve, Melghat region of Maharashtra is characterised by its vast forested timber tracks and tribal population. The land is very fertile, the regain suffers from an acute water shortage in summers, forcing the local population to nearby urban centres for paid labour work.

Nutrition insecurity, water shortage and lack of knowledge on health practises had made children susceptible to acute malnutrition, where children suffer 11 times the risk of mortality compared to a healthy child. Children are at a higher risk of dying every year.

human right to food, NAOS and Action Against Hunger collaborated in December 2017, to work together towards improving the health indicators in the community In a block called Dharni. This integrated project brings together components of nutrition & health, Water Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) and Food Security & Livelihood (FSL).

Dhar, Madhya Pradesh

The state of Madhya Pradesh is home to a large tribal population and various unique cultures. Although tribals account for over 20% of the total population of the state, most of these tribes are characterised by low income, and low literacy rates.

The district of Dhar, located in western Madhya Pradesh, consists of 13 blocks of which 11 are classified and tribal by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Agriculture and forest produce, practised for generations, serve as the main occupation and have been consistently affected by low yield, resulting in low income. To cope with inconsistent income, in most families’ adults spend the entire day on the field or for paid labour while children are often left to fend for themselves. This coupled with poor child feeding practises and lack in diversity in local diet has resulted in a high prevalence of undernutrition among children.

National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad in its study found that the under-nutrition levels were as high 33% for wasting, 54% for underweight and 47% for stunting. Given the above figures, almost 50% of children under five within the district of Dhar are under nourished.

Baran, Rajasthan

Baran, a district in the southwest region of Rajasthan, India, consists largely of tribal population. Most of the tribal families here survive on small-scale farming, manual labour, or the sale of minor forest produce

While agriculture is rain dependent and therefore seasonal, manual labour and forest produce do not provide a fixed source of income either.

Some of the tribal communities, such as the Sahariya’s, tend to migrate as a community and thus suffer from nutrition and food insecurity. An acute lack of income and nutrition security owing to geographical and cultural reasons has resulted in children from these tribes falling victim to the vicious cycle of hunger.

Sabarkantha, Gujarat

The state of Gujarat harbours persistent pockets of high rates of undernutrition, with 38.5% of children under six years old estimated to be stunted and 9.5% severely wasted. Anaemia among women is a significant public health challenge at 55% and almost 70% among adolescent girls, neither of which has decreased in the last 10 years

The Government of Gujarat has taken several measures to address the challenge including launching the Gujarat State Nutrition Mission in 2012, with an integrated and holistic approach focusing on both preventive and curative aspects, through strengthening existing nutrition programs and 10 proven interventions. Data from 2006 to 2016 indicates that the state has seen positive movement in coverage of all nutrition specific interventions along continuum of care, but deep pockets of poor nutrition outcomes remain.

To address the persistent obstacles to good nutrition outcomes in Gujarat, CARE and Action Against Hunger (AAH) will support the Government of Gujarat (GoG) through the Gujarat Nutrition Program by increasing demand for nutrition services in communities and supporting the government frontline workers and functionaries in providing quality health and nutrition services.

The program will work closely with the Government of Gujarat (GoG) to strengthen its efforts to address the root causes of malnutrition in specific pockets and identifying an effective model of service delivery and demand creation that could be replicated in other contexts as well.

To achieve this goal, the program will work in depth in two high-burden districts of Gujarat – Bhavnagar and Sabarkantha and further explore adding two adjoining districts, that have high stunting rates, low coverage of quality nutrition services, and limited knowledge of good nutrition behaviours within their communities. Over a five-year period, it is estimated that the project will reach about 550,000 children under 6 and 45,000 pregnant and 350,000 lactating women in the two districts.