Context: Bhartiya Poshan Krishi Kosh (B.P.K.K.), a web portal having information of India’s crop diversity across all districts – for both current and historical crops has been developed.

• It aims to provide data informed agro ecological contexts required to produce traditional and locally available nutrition-rich crops.
• The B.P.K.K. is designed to indicate the nutritional value of all major food crops, vegetables and fruits grown in all states and UTs of India down up to a district level.
• The information is aimed to be useful for all age groups.
• There is a special focus on dietary charts for pregnant women based on regional preferences. Necessary data has been collected in consultation with nodal ministries/departments.

About Bharatiya POSHAN Krishi Kosh project

• Ministry of Women and Child Development along with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) launched the Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh (BPKK) in 2019.
• Bhartiya Poshan Krishi Kosh” project has two components – Development of a Food Atlas and Documentation of promising practices for Jan-Andolan for POSHAN Abhiyaan.
• The Agro-Food Atlas is to act as a repository of diverse crops across 127 agro-climatic zones of the country having three parts- crops currently being grown, agro-ecological conditions (soil, organic carbon content, ground water availability etc) and guidance on how a greater diversity of crops could be encouraged in a particular district or block to promote dietary diversity and nutrition.
• The project includes diverse data sources like National Sample Survey, Agri-Census, Soil Health Cards, ISRO’s Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-Radio meter.
• The project also documents social, behavioral and cultural practices that promote and reinforce healthy dietary behaviors.
• Identification of promising practices with the help of a multi-disciplinary group of experts and developments of a tool kit to disseminate best strategies for Social and Behavioural Change Communication, specific to population groups in those regions is also a part of it.
• ATechnical Support Unithas been set-up under NITI Aayog which undertakes/conducts/ facilitates regular monitoring and evaluation of the National Nutrition Mission to assess the impact of the programme.
• A National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman NITI Aayog has been constituted to provide policy direction, review and effective coordination and convergence between Ministries which have a sectoral responsibility for the challenge of nutrition.
• Ministry of WCD is addressing the issue of malnutrition through various schemes including POSHAN Abhiyaan.
• Under POSHAN Abhiyaan, Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan, to educate the people on nutritional aspects,are among various components to generate awareness and public participation.

About POSHAN Abhiyaan

• POSHAN Abhiyaan is a multi-ministerial convergence mission with the vision to ensure attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022.
• The objective of POSHAN Abhiyaan to reduce stunting in identified Districts of India with the highest malnutrition burden by improving utilization of key Anganwadi Services and improving the quality of Anganwadi Services delivery.
• Its aim to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan in 315 Districts in first year, 235 Districts in second year and remaining districts will be covered in the third year.

Features

• The POSHAN Abhiyaan, as an apex body, will monitor, supervise, fix targets and guide the nutrition related interventions across the Ministries.

The proposal consists of

• mapping of various Schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition
• introducing a very robust convergence mechanism
• ICT based Real Time Monitoring system
• incentivizing States/UTs for meeting the targets
• incentivizing Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for using IT based tools
• eliminating registers used by AWWs
• introducing measurement of height of children at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs)
• Social Audits
• Setting-up Nutrition Resource Centres, involving masses through Jan Andolan for their participation on nutrition through various activities, among others.
• The programme through the targets will strive to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth weight babies.
• It will create synergy, ensure better monitoring, issue alerts for timely action, and encourage States/UTs to perform, guide and supervise the line Ministries and States/UTs to achieve the targeted goals.

Scheme

• It targets to reduce level of under-nutrition and other related problems by ensuring convergence of various nutrition related schemes.
• It also targets stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and low birth rate.
• Its large component involves gradual scaling-up of interventions supported by on-going World Bank assisted Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) to all districts in the country by 2022.

Key nutrition strategies and interventions

• IYCF (Infant and Young child feeding), Food and Nutrition, Immunization, Institutional Delivery, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), De-worming, ORS-Zinc, Food Fortification, Dietary Diversification, Adolescent Nutrition, Maternal Health and Nutrition, ECD (Early childhood development)/ECCE (Early Childhood care and Education), Convergence, ICT-RTM (Information and Communication. Technology enabled Real Time Monitoring) and Capacity Building etc.

Implementation Strategy and Targets Implementation

• Implementation strategy would be based on intense monitoring and Convergence Action Plan right up to the grass root level.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan will be rolled out in three phases from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum
• Although the target to reduce Stunting is at least 2% p.a., Mission would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).

Pillars of the mission

• ICDS-CAS(Common Application Software)
• Convergence
• Behavioural change, IEC Advocacy
• Training and Capacity building
• Innovations
• Incentives
• Grievance Redressal

Reference: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1658298

https://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/poshan-abhiyaan-pms-overarching-scheme-holistic-nourishment

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