[ ] 54 A Better World Transforming tribal communities in Telangana, India, into strategic business enterprises — a paradigm for inclusive growth Saikat Datta Mazumdar, Aravazhi Selvaraj, Priyanka Durgalla, Harshvardhan Mane, Tamilselvi Nedumaran, Divya Nancy and Victor Afari-Sefa, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Global food systems are failing both people and the planet due to overarching interconnected challenges, including climate change, natural resource depletion, biodiversity loss, malnutrition, food insecurity, gender inequality and preventable ill-health, all of which are exacerbated by the fragmentation of food systems and policy incoherence. Here, we present innovative interventions that have addressed critical bottlenecks in the transformation of food systems, with a case study on linking entrepreneurship with agriculture and nutrition/health via a convergence model in a select tribal locale of India. Based on the convergence model, the resilience of vulnerable tribal community groups is built through the introduction of strategic business enterprises for enhancing inclusive growth among target tribal populations of India. Due to outdated indigenous agricultural practices, poverty, illiteracy and poor hygienic practices, India’s tribal population is at a high risk of malnutrition. Further, tribal diets across India have limited dietary diversity2,3 and hence high prevalence of malnutrition/anaemia among the tribal population, including those in Telangana State, India. To address this and related health challenges, the Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (AIP) of the International Crops Research Institute for the SemiArid Tropics (ICRISAT) in collaboration with the Government of Telangana, India launched the “Giri Poshana Nutri-Food Basket”, ICRISAT’s branded “Smart Food” intervention project with the aim of supplementing diets of target tribal populations to address malnutrition among 3–6 year-old children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) areas of Utnoor, Bhadrachalam, Eturunagaram and Mannanur, located in the Telangana State of India. The project was implemented in three phases. Phase I, titled Nutri-Food Basket, was initiated in 2017 as a 9-month pilot with the aim of providing nutritional support to 5,500 beneficiaries in ITDA Utnoor4. The pilot positively impacted and improved nutrition and health outcomes of the target beneficiaries. Enthused by the positive outcomes observed from Phase I, Phase II titled Giri Poshana, was initiated in 2019 involving 13,000 beneficiaries in ITDA areas of Utnoor, Bhadrachalam and Eturunagaram, through the convergence model involving multiple stakeholders5. Phase III, titled Giri Poshana for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), involved 16,500 beneficiaries, covering additional areas in the ITDAs of Utnoor, Bhadrachalam and Mannanur6. From the project’s inception in 2017, as many as 35,000 beneficiaries have been sensitized to the initiative and were provided with nutritious millet-pulse-groundnut-based food formulations. These food products were made available in the form of ready-to-cook (RTC) and ready-to-eat (RTE) formats developed by ICRISAT. The project proved to be a critical boon in NFHS-51 data of ITDA — Bhadrachalam, Utnoor, Mannanur and Eturunagaram, Telangana State, India Children under 5 years who are stunted (height-for-age) (%) Children under 5 years who are underweight (weight-for-age) (%) Children under 5 years who are wasted (weight-for-height) (%) Children age 6–59 months who are anaemic (<11.0 g/dl) (%) All women age 15–49 years who are anaemic (<12.0 g/dl) (%) NFHS-5 is the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21). ITDA Bhadrachalam (data of Bhadradri-kothagudem district); ITDA Utnoor (average data of Adilabad, Asifabad, Nirmal & Mancherial districts); ITDA Mannanur (average data of Mahabubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Rangareddy & Vikarabad districts); ITDA Eturunagaram (data of Jayashankar Bhupalapally district) The Problem: Tribal diets have limited dietary diversity leading to malnutrition Bhadrachalam: 28.4 Utnoor: 35.4 Mannanur: 35.9 Eturunagaram: 32.5 Bhadrachalam: 25.3 Utnoor: 38.5 Mannanur: 31.7 Eturunagaram: 36.7 Bhadrachalam: 21.8 Utnoor: 26.4 Mannanur: 21.8 Eturunagaram: 31.8 Bhadrachalam: 69.3 Utnoor: 67.8 Mannanur: 75.6 Eturunagaram: 67.9 Bhadrachalam: 68.7 Utnoor: 60.7 Mannanur: 55.4 Eturunagaram: 65.9
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