The Role of Government in Promoting Healthy Nutrition
Governments around the world are tasked with planning, implementing, and evaluating effective and sustainable nutrition programs that advance the health and wellbeing of their citizens. One key piece of that puzzle is optimizing funding that flows directly into programs from public and private sources. The Government of Odisha provides nutrition researchers and advocates with an interesting case study on the topic.
Odisha was the first state in India to incorporate nutrition budgeting in its 2020-2021 financial plan (Government of Odisha, 2023). Since the inception of the budget, investments in nutrition programs have continually increased each year. This funding allows the government to implement a range of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programs. One example of a nutrition program is the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP), which is overseen by the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD).
Are Existing Government Schemes Enough?
SNP is a centrally sponsored program relying on strong federal-state partnernhip. The Government of India and state governments each cover 50% of the costs associated with the program, but the latter is responsible for implementation (Government of India, 2014). Funding ensures that children and families living in rural areas have access to nutritional resources including morning snacks, hot cooked meals, and take-home rations (Government of Odisha, 2021). Hot cooked meals in particular are provided to children between the ages of 3 to 6 years.
Advocates believe that SNP is a strong start to tackling malnutrition across India, but assert that the program could benefit from expansion. Research tells us that healthy and adequate nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life is key to building a strong foundation (UNICEF, 2017). This tells us that there is a critical gap in the current SNP program, because children younger than 3 years of age are left without access to nutritious foods when they arguably need it most.
The American India Foundation (AIF), in collaboration with the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department, is working to address that gap by running an Integrated Program that provides supplementary hot meals for children aged 6 months to 3 years and additional hot snacks for children aged 3 to 6 years at Anganwadi Centers (AWCs). This work has been ongoing since 2022, which is when AIF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the WCD Department, and the Government of Odisha, to pilot an Integrated Program focusing on health, nutrition, early childhood education, and mental health in two blocks of Mayurbhanj District.
Looking Towards Sustainability and Scaling
Over the course of my Fellowship I will have the opportunity to support the implementation and expansion of AIF’s nutrition program in Mayurbhanj. It will be an incredible opportunity to see how stakeholders utilize resources like partnerships, data, and money. I am most interested in the process of identifying long term funding for this initiative. To do so, I must think through:
- How much will it cost to sustain the current program? To expand it?
- How can governments and other funders actually operationalize funding for child nutrition?
- What additional partnerships are needed to ensure equitable and high quality programming?
- How can we best leverage programmatic data to raise awareness and increase funding?
These are just some of the essential questions I plan to ask as I continue to navigate the funding landscape in Odisha. I believe that this is one of many moving parts needed to ensure that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people get access to the resources they need, and that those resources are funded and sustained for generations to come.
Sources:
American India Foundation, Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Odisha Inks MoU with the American India Foundation to Implement the Integrated Program for Children, press release, December, 1, 2022, https://aif.org/department-of-women-and-child-development-government-of-odisha-inks-mou-with-the-american-india-foundation-to-implement-the-integrated-program-for-children/.
Government of India, Department of Women & Child Development and Mission Shakti, Press Information Bureau, Supplementary Nutrition Programme, February 21, 2014, https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=104046.
Government of Odisha, Department of Women & Child Development and Mission Shakti, Revised Guidelines for Implementation of Morning Snacks and Hot Cooked Meals 2018 (Supplementary Nutrition Programme of Anganwadi Services of ICDS), accessed October 27, 2024, https://wcd.odisha.gov.in/sites/default/files/2021-06/Guide_Lines_for_THR_and_HCM.pdf.
Government of Odisha, Finance Department, Nutrition Budget 2023-2024, accessed October 27, 2024, https://finance.odisha.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023-02/Nutrition.pdf.
UNICEF, First 1000 Days: The Critical Window to Ensure that Children Survive and Thrive, May 2017, https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/media/551/file/ZAF-First-1000-days-brief-2017.pdf.
About the Author:
Courtney developed a passion for improving the health and wellbeing of women and children by studying and working alongside under-resourced families across the United States and abroad. During her academic career, she independently researched topics ranging from harm reduction initiatives in Nepal to strategies for improving Black maternal health in the United States. This led Courtney to believe that the most transformative change happens at the policy level. She went on to hone her policy research and facilitation skills during her time as senior policy associate at Children’s Funding Project. There, she collaborated with state and local leaders to establish equitable, coordinated, and sustainable funding for child and youth services. Having recently come to a crossroads with a desire to expand her abilities, Courtney embarked on a journey to develop her international field experience and acquire new skill sets to more adeptly serve communities in need. Prior to the Fellowship, Courtney spent a year living and exploring Latin America. She volunteered on public health projects in Peru and Costa Rica, and is grateful for having deepened her understanding of health promotion and education in the context of those countries. She is excited to take all she knows about community-based development and policy-level interventions to her work as a Banyan Impact Fellow.
