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Half of world's hungry live in India: WFP

Nearly half of the world's hungry people live in India, despite the substantial increase in the production of foodgrains since Independence, a World Food Programme report has said.

"India is still classified by the Food and Agriculture Organisation as a low-income, food-deficit country," copies of the report distributed in Dehra Dun on Wednesday as part of a two-day state consultation workshop on food security in Uttaranchal said.

The report said that about 35 per cent of India's population is considered food insecure, consuming less than 80 per cent of minimum energy requirement.

"Without adequate nutrition, a person may be unable to work productively, or a child may be unable to learn school lessons to his or her capacity, or a mother may give birth to a child with permanent impaired brain development," the report said.

In India, those most vulnerable to malnutrition live in states susceptible to natural disasters and in areas where there is degradation of natural resources.

"Overwhelmingly, they are landless or functionally landless," the report said. "These groups often live in isolated rural areas and have little access to mainstream development or subsidised food from public distribution system," the report added.

In order to fight hunger and poverty in India, the WFP has launched 70 development projects including supplementary feeding, supported forestry, livestock and dairy development, irrigation and rural development schemes.

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