NUTRITION - WIN CHALLENGES AND APPROACH
NUTRITION - WIN CHALLENGES AND APPROACH
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Problem
Problem
Malnutrition remains a serious problem in India. The large-scale but primarily demand-side programs by the government, multi-lateral agencies and private charities, fail to promote healthy eating habits on sustained basis. Lack of knowledge and skills in preparing nutritious food, widespread junk foods in market, have led to lack of supply and demand for healthier options in market. Reduced crop diversity add to the complexity of challenge. Incidentally, this problem affects all sections of our society, across economic levels. However, the poor and lower middle class suffer much more due to poor hygenic living conditions and lack of medical care. To alter these dynamics, we need to change food habits at family and community levels.
Local Market Creation for Nutrition
Local Market Creation for Nutrition
With Women led Nutri-preneurs from communities, supported with nutrition and business knowledge, tools and setup – for Local Circular Economy
WIN Foundation’s adopts a sustainable local market creation approach to tackle malnutrition. This involves creating simultaneous "Push" (or Supply) and "Pull" (or Demand) for nutritious food, at local community level. For this, we train and support women microentrepreneurs from the communities to produce and market nutritious food products with their own brands.
The women nutri-preneurs are provided training on nutrition, food production, marketing, and all other aspects of business, along with support for Central Kitchen and seed funds, in a manner similar to the support provided by incubators to new age startups. This enables value added micro-enterprise creation, with scope for much more growth than the typical low value added micro-enterpreneurship.
We aim to bring more adolescent girls participation in this program and train them for making and selling food.
We also conduct community awareness programs and field health worker training. These create both demand and supply of nutritious food at community level, which can then expand to cover larger markets over time. Our support includes mobilization, training on microentrepreneurship and nutrition technology, central kitchen for production, and seed funds.
WIN Foundation has already launched the projects in 6 areas and trained over 250 women,. Over 100 women have started selling their food products regularly, with certification.
Overall Objectives:
Tackle malnutrition through local market creation approach for sustainability
Reduce malnutrition among the community, with focus on
Pregnant and lactating mothers,
Infant children Adolescent girls
Build on strong synergy between Water and Health
WIN Foundation has taken a Community centred approach with aim for Community ownership, to the nutrition problem. Nutrition status in most parts of the country remains challenging. In spite of several programs for improving nutrition, lack of habit formation in nutrition food habits has led to poor nutrition outcomes. To add to this, we also face the adverse effect of
(i) Mass input driven agriculture, leading to reduction of food diversity, a very critical requirement for balanced nutrition,
(ii) High volume processed food products, tasty but low on nutrition, which have reached remote corners of the country. This has developed vested interests in the food industry.
Our approach envisions a community which takes charge of nutrition needs and overcomes above challenges.
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