BNF organizes its 3nd Symposium in New Delhi

Britannia, India’s leading Food Company created the Britannia Nutrition Foundation (BNF) with the belief that Every Child has a Right to Growth and Development which includes not just the Right to Food, but also the Right to Nutrition.Symposium 2Sept-brought together multi-sectoral experts from various domains that impact malnutrition like the Government, Nutritional Science, Medicine, Economics, Private sector and the Development sector to deliberate and collaborate on action to combat Malnutrition. The case for addressing Malnutrition in India with a sense of urgency is compelling when you consider the following:

Over 40% of the world’s underweight children below 5 years live in India.
Close to 70% of children in India suffer from Iron deficiency.
Prevalence of Low Birth Weight in India is about 30%.
Malnutrition costs the nation approximately 4% of GDP in productivity losses.
55% of preschool children in India are underweight and 50% of preschool children in India are stunted.
Poverty is a major cause but not the only cause of malnutrition. Percentage of population suffering from various forms of malnutrition far exceeds the percentage below poverty line.

Britannia, India’s leading Food Company created the Britannia Nutrition Foundation (BNF) with the belief that Every Child has a Right to Growth and Development which includes not just the Right to Food, but also the Right to Nutrition. The purpose of the BNF is to provide a forum for organizations and experts in diverse fields who share the same conviction, to find models and solutions for the multi dimensional nutrition challenge. Drawing from the commitment and knowledge of key experts in this area, BNF has evolved a strong framework for effective action by focussing on three pillars –

Scientific knowledge building and dissemination
Awareness building
Creating a platform for action:
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Vinita Bali – Managing Director, Britannia Industries Limited and Chairperson of the Britannia Nutrition Foundation said, “Given the complexity of the Malnutrition challenge, it is imperative to drive co-ordinated action through multi-sectoral partnerships and programs. The 3nd BNF Symposium is an efficient and effective way to channelise productive dialogue and create a shared and common agenda, while respecting the diversity of views and experiences to combat Malnutrition”.

Mrs. Veena S. Rao – Former Secretary, Government of India with domain expertise in Malnutrition was also present at the event. On this occasion, Mrs. Veena S. Rao released the Britannia Nutrition Foundation special position paper on Malnutrition titled ‘Reducing Malnutrition in the Next Decade – Multi-Sectoral Stakeholders and Agents of Change’. Through the BNF position paper on Malnutrition, the cases for participation of multi-sectoral stakeholders and the need for a comprehensive intervention strategy were detailed out.

The following themes emerged as ones of utmost importance for an effective and comprehensive intervention strategy targeted at combating Malnutrition:
1. Planning and Design of Integrated programs through collaboration with various Government ministries

2. Measurement of Nutrition: Articulation of Key outcome indicators and inclusion of Nutrition sufficiency in overall development indices

3. Aggressive build-up in care and Nutrition interventions during the Critical ‘Window of Opportunity’ i.e. -9 to 24 months or formative years of the child

4. Addressing the problem of Malnutrition at various stages to break the Inter-generational cycle of Malnutrition and Ill health

5. Designing and Delivering Creative food-based solutions to make solutions both, broad-based and acceptable by the targeted individuals

6. Designing insightful and strong Communication and Campaign Approach to create awareness, seek participation and ensure compliance

7. Designing and Delivering effective Nutrition programs through Multi-sectoral Partnerships

8. Bringing a Change in Gender Equity and other Key Social Factors related to women

Political will, policy and governmental action need to be complemented by other sectors engaging with the issue of Malnutrition. This spectrum is wide and includes the Scientific and Knowledge building community, Private sector, NGOs, Developmental organizations and civil society. An attempt was also made to articulate the framework for drawing up the strategic contribution that each sector can make in impacting design, delivery and scale up of pro-nutrition programs:

1. Government and Policy makers – Central and State Governments can lead with the single most important thrust i.e. inclusion of Nutrition status and development as the most important development outcome for units and populations in their responsibilities. Apart from this, there is a direct need for them to recognize evidence-based nutrition solutions and provide resources and commitment to scale them up; in addition to creating regulatory frameworks that enable food-based solutions.

2. Scientific Community and Knowledge Building – There is a clear role to up-weight resources and expertise applied to building fundamental understanding of Nutrition Science, Nutrition status articulation, Frequent Measurement and evaluation of evidence-based nutrition interventions.

3. Private sector – The Private sector, especially the Food Industry can make a significant contribution by both, delivering nutrition through food products and helping build awareness for malnutrition by partnering in creation and delivery of communication programs to people at large.

4. Developmental organizations – It is noteworthy, that the Copenhagen consensus, 2008 identified Nutrition intervention and solutions, as having the best Return scenarios for resources. Several Developmental organizations, both International and Domestic have done commendable work in supporting Nutrition programs. Developmental organizations need to keep the momentum both, in terms of supporting key projects and creating platforms for action.

5. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) – NGOs and Self-help groups working on ground have outstanding domain expertise in taking key messages and interventions to the grass roots. The discipline certainly needs more on-ground partners who can collaborate to build capacity for program delivery.

6. Civil Society and the Education Sector – The cause of Nutrition can find an extremely competent partner in individuals. Emerging India has, in recent history witnessed several cases where the Civil Society has taken a lead in generating greater interest and providing stimuli for change. World over, Nutrition has seen very encouraging build-up with improvement in overall education levels and specifically for Mothers/ girl children. Efforts in this direction must intensify for a multiplicative effect on combating