Regional Focus: Working towards healthy diets

IRRI News

IRRI's regional representative for South Asia, Nafees Meah, speaks with Geography and You to discuss his perspectives on climate change, micronutrient deficiency, food accessibility, and affordability, among other issues affecting India's food sector. He also shares his take on policies and how restructuring value chains may potentially help ease the negative impact of these challenges on India's smallholder farmers. 

"Policies encouraging sustainable intensification of agriculture through climate-smart practices are the need of the hour."

The Green Revolution helped transform the South Asia region from one of food deficits to surpluses and subsequently moved millions of people out of poverty. Today, there is the opportunity to build on that success by releasing the untapped potential in the rice agri-food sector.

If South Asian farmers can improve farm productivity, increase resource-use efficiency, diversify their crops and gain better market access, then the livelihoods, nutrition, and income of millions of smallholder farmers and their families could be improved substantially.

IRRI will work in partnership with policy makers and national research and extension systems (NARES) to deliver consolidated research and education support services that will improve the efficiency, sustainability, and equity of the region’s rice-based agrifood sector and help deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Visit Geography and You to read the full article. Learn more about our work in South Asia 

https://www.irri.org/news-and-events/news/regional-focus-working-towards-healthy-diets