‘TN will be the first State to ensure nutrition security’

Thanks to the Green Revolution, India has overcome, to some extent, chronic hunger (deficiency of calories).

“However, we also require micro-nutrients. In the transition from food security to nutrition security, the first State in this country will be Tamil Nadu,” said MS Swaminathan, Founder Chairman, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation.

At a multi-stakeholder international consultation — Achieving Sustainable Development Goals and Strengthening Science for Climate Resilience — organised by the Foundation, Swaminathan said that the 30-year-old Foundation was not a research institute alone but is involved in participatory research jointly with local community, particularly with tribal communities and women.

A booklet on 30 years of MSSRF titled ‘Influencing Policy Change’, released by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami at the function, says that the Foundation assisted the State government in developing an integrated strategy to implement the Chief Minister’s programme to eradicate poverty induced hunger.

It led a consortium of institutions in preparing a Hunger-Free Area Programme.

The Foundation had contributed to the policy document on malnutrition-free Tamil Nadu adopted by the State government in 2002 during Swaminathan’s tenure as vice-chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission from 2002-2006. The initiative was re-energised in partnership with UNICEF in 2016 by bringing together civil society and interested individuals, leading to the formation of the Tamil Nadu Nutrition Alliance in mid-2017, the booklet said.

Swaminathan in his speech said, “We have fulfilled one of our major aims to fill a gap in ongoing research. Not one more institution but an institution that can fill the gap in ongoing work. This is the need of the people,” he said.

Water problem

The Chief Minister, while lauding the work of Swaminathan and his Foundation, said water shortage is a major problem in Tamil Nadu.

With frequent failure of the monsoon, the State is heavily dependent on water from other States. This year too the monsoon has been poor and rainwater harvesting has become very important. “We are storing every drop of water,” he said.

O Pannerselvam, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister, and N Ram, Chairman, THG Publishing Pvt Ltd, also spoke at the event.