Every year brings with it new trends, scientific advancements and renewed goals for a healthy future, but 2023 has been particularly significant for ensuring that everyone on this planet has optimal health and access to nourishment.
The United Nations has designated this year as the ‘International Year of Millets’, redirecting everyone’s attention to one of the oldest grains, the magical millets, to change the health landscape, boost food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. It was adopted on the recommendation of the Indian government after declaring 2018 as the ‘National Year of Millets’ to restore the practice of adding millets to the food basket for their health benefits, owing to their high nutritional value.
Millets are a superfood loaded with fiber, protein, essential vitamins and minerals. One serving of this super grain can meet the daily requirements for several nutrients needed for optimum function of the brain and body. Millets also offers significant ecological benefits. Their ability to thrive in harsh, arid conditions with little maintenance, make it a viable crop option for countries with challenging climates. Furthermore, millets require less water than other crops making them an environment friendly produce with a smaller carbon footprint. Cultivating them also decreases dependence on imported cereal grains and promotes sustainable agriculture practices, globally.
ALSO READ | Millets making a comeback on global stage
In a recent conference on Global Millets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who referred to millets as Shree Anna, defined the super food as the core medium to address the nutritional concerns across different population segments as well as an ideal way for a nation to grow exponentially. Millets can collectively bring ample opportunity for the small farmers of the country to scale and offer benefits for a sustainable future.
The Centre has been making tremendous efforts to revive the production and consumption of millets through Minimum Support Price (MSP) schemes that provide financial aid to farmers for cultivating millets, and the introduction of millets in the Public Distribution System (PDS) to make them accessible and affordable. This has led to India becoming the world’s largest producer and second-largest exporter of millets.
While our country has made remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty to 21% and halving infant mortality in the past three decades, a significant proportion of the population belonging to marginalised sections of society still struggles to have access to nutritious food. The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), in their research studies, have established that millet consumption has a significant impact on health and nutrition.
Millets, thus, are being promoted as a means of addressing the challenges of malnourishment, which is most prevalent amongst women and children in our country. The government’s initiative to add millets to the mid-day meal is a visionary approach to support the POSHAN Abhiyaan 2.0 mission and address the issue of malnutrition, particularly in children. Their food-on-table initiatives such as Take-Home Ration (THR) and Hot Cooked Meals (HCM) are gradually helping to overcome the nutritional imbalance among children, especially from the ages of 3-6.
The Union Budget 2023 declared IIMR as a Global Centre of Excellence on Millets to promote India as a global hub for millets and provide a strong impetus to millet research, advocacy and innovation. On the other hand, NIN has been actively contributing towards the government's initiatives to combat malnutrition by providing supplementary foods, diversified diets, health check-ups and community-based interventions. Despite significant efforts by the government and various stakeholders, the challenge of malnutrition remains complex and multi-faceted, requiring innovative solutions. It is imperative that the private sector and civil society partner with the government to drive the mission to promote millets to address malnutrition concerns comprehensively.
The recent launch of multi-millet nutri-bars for pre-school children by Anil Agarwal Foundation & Vedanta is one of the first such unique nutrition programmes seen after the Union Budget. The organisation has piloted a project to provide multi-millet bars to 50,000 children every day in anganwaadis in Varanasi district for six months, thus aiming to improve the daily nutrient intake of children, boost cognitive development and reduce absenteeism while increasing enrolment in pre-schools.
To advance sustainable health with the power of millets, we need to continue taking a holistic approach that involves multiple stakeholders, including policymakers, farmers, food manufacturers, corporates and consumers. Consumers need to be educated about the nutritional and ecological benefits of millets and encouraged to incorporate them into their diets, thus creating a healthier and well-nourished India.
Web Scrawl | Read our series of web exclusives here
Quantified efforts are being observed by corporates to add millet-based products into their portfolio and introduce nutritious food products with millets as the core ingredient. This paradigm shift by corporates signifies a positive trend in nutrition delivery, reflecting their responsibility to contribute to the welfare of society.
We have an opportunity to transform the way we approach food, health and nutrition. Growing and consuming millets will be a key to addressing this transformation, enhancing human health, protecting the environment and preserving cultural traditions in times to come.
(Dr Avula Laxmaiah, Former Scientist G & Head of Public Health Nutrition Division, ICMR-NIN Views are personal.)