BENGALURU: The India Nutrition Collaborative announced the launch of the Poshan Innovation Platform (PIP), India’s first collaborative incubator for innovations in maternal and child health, facilitating seed funding and investment opportunities for scaling innovations.
It was launched in association with the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Central government at the Bengaluru Design Week on Saturday, aiming to strengthen nutritional status. Experts noted that innovations were largely tech-driven and focused on urban areas, ignoring accessibility at the last mile in most cases.
Focussing on reducing the levels of stunting and wasting among young children, and anaemia in women of reproductive age group, the platform calls for innovations in areas like gender equity, digital equity, market equity and promoting nutrition-seeking behaviour.
Dr Sapna Poti, Director of Strategic Alliances at the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, stated that the state of nutrition is ‘pretty bad’ in India, with the country ranking 101 of the 116 in the Global Hunger Index 2023. It is not just people from low socio-economic backgrounds that are affected but the ones from affluent backgrounds too. Hence, innovations can also not be limited to solely nutrition but all factors contributing to it.
Most initiatives end up being ‘cute experiments’ as they do not move beyond the laboratories due to a lack of mentorship or financial support. This platform will help evaluate scalable innovations which will also build their credibility, she added.
Dr Smriti Pahwa of India Nutrition Collaborative said, “To combat malnutrition in the country, there is a need to address the problem of ‘ineffective delivery and uptake’.”