Transforming Food Systems for a Rising India

This open access book examines the interactions between India’s economic development, agricultural production, and nutrition through the lens of a “Food Systems Approach (FSA).” The Indian growth story is a paradoxical one. Despite economic progress over the past two decades, regional inequality, food insecurity and malnutrition problems persist.  Simultaneously, recent trends in obesity along with micro-nutrient deficiency portend to a future public health crisis. This book explores various challenges and opportunities to achieve a nutrition-secure future through diversified production systems, improved health and hygiene environment and greater individual capability to access a balanced diet contributing to an increase in overall productivity. The authors bring together the latest data and scientific evidence from the country to map out the current state of food systems and nutrition outcomes. They place India within the context of other developing country experiences and highlight India’s status as an outlier in terms of the persistence of high levels of stunting while following global trends in obesity. This book discusses the policy and institutional interventions needed for promoting a nutrition-sensitive food system and the multi-sectoral strategies needed for simultaneously addressing the triple burden of malnutrition in India. 

Prabhu Pingali is Professor of Applied Economics and Founding Director of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) at Cornell University.  Pingali is a member in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and an AAEA Fellow.  He was president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists and has over three decades of experience working with some of the leading international agricultural development organizations.

Anaka Aiyar is Post-Doctoral Associate with the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI), Cornell University. Anaka obtained her PhD in Economics at the University of California, Riverside. Her research spans the area of health economics with a focus on developing countries. Prior to her PhD, she worked in India on field based action research projects, impact evaluations and has conducted market research for social entrepreneurs.

Mathew Abraham is Assistant Director of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI), Cornell University. He has a PhD from the Department of International Economics and Management, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. He has over 15 years of research experience in agricultural development, agricultural markets and food security in developing countries.

Andaleeb Rahman is Post-Doctoral Associate at the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI), Cornell University.  His research spans food policy, rural transformation and the political economy of development with a geographical focus on India. He wrote his doctoral dissertation at the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai.