Feeding Hungry Families to Eradicate Issues Related to Hunger
India is known as the world’s largest food producers feeding hungry families. Ironically, the country is also home to the largest number of hungry people going to bed every night empty stomach. India also has one-third of the world’s malnourished children. The Global hunger index ranks India 94 among 107 countries. The data shows that India’s current malnutrition or hunger index is not up to the mark.
As an NGO for hunger in India, we are doing our best to eradicate the core’s hunger-related issues. We are making all possible efforts in feeding hungry families in India to ensure a proper standard of living for one and all. The sudden plunge of the COVID-19 pandemic has made these conditions even worse. The virus has disrupted the global and local food system, and India’s poor and hungry families are being affected worse than ever.
The menace of covid-19 has immensely affected the poor people, vendors, hawkers, small-business man, etc. Due to the sudden pandemic outbreak, many families have suffered and are finding it difficult to afford even a single meal for their families. As a dedicated NGO, all we are doing is to ensure adequate food to mitigate the issues related to hunger and malnutrition. Feeding hunger families and quenching their thirst for a better life and food is our main plan for now.
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Systems
Before the pandemic, India was gearing itself to fill any trade vacuums that would result from various countries considering trade restrictions on China that included food items like rice, onions, potatoes, vegetables, mangoes, and honey. India was also looking to further export US$100 billion worth of its agricultural related products by 2025, tapping into new markets.
India was expecting a record harvest of 295.7 million metric tons in the coming year.
During March, when Covid cases got detected in our, the situation took a severe turn.
A nation lockdown shook its base, including its fragmented and fragile food systems and supply chains. The Food and Agricultural Organisation estimates that nearly 40% of India’s food is lost or wasted every year due to inefficient supply chains.
Due to the lack of proper cooling & storage facilities in India, 20% of the product might get wasted before it reaches the consumer or marketplace. The pandemic has amplified the vulnerabilities of the national food system and chain. It has disrupted local, regional, and national supply chains, adding to the food waste problem. Small farmers and growers have had to sell their produce at a loss if they have been able to sell it at all. Imports of food have also have come to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regional port operations and the closure of roads and air cargo have hampered grains across the Nation.
Feeding Hungry Families Have Become a Requirement
India is a country that has always taken a pledge of feeding hungry families in some form or the other. Hunger in India is not a new concept; it is a problem prevailing since time immemorial. Similarly, our effort as an NGO for hunger in India in feeding hungry families isn’t a new way to approach them. India is known as a land with sufficient food and rich agriculture. Also, the concept of feeding hungry families and needy is a part of Indian tradition. India has always been addressed for its rich tradition of feeding people in some form or the other like langars, Bhandara, free distribution of food, mid-day meals, etc. Following this tradition and considering India’s hunger, we have been adamant in keeping up with this ritual by feeding hungry families in India.
Hunger in India is the most heated up and grave issue, which we all need to consider and take efforts in the same direction. There have been multiple reasons for the rising rate of hunger in India and its repercussions on our society. Hunger level and its intensity is getting grave with every passing day. Feeding hunger families is a temporary solution, not the ultimate one.
Indian people know hunger well. Some millions of people are malnourished, and malnutrition is the top cause of death and disability. Food security remains a severe challenge in the current scenario. We can overcome the challenge by feeding hungry families. Along with NGOs’ efforts, some Government initiatives have temporarily alleviated the situation by feeding hungry families. However, too, we haven’t reached the core of the problem, and is still in the pipeline.
As an NGO for hunger in India, we are putting every possible effort to counter India’s current hunger issue by feeding hungry families and other society sections. However, feeding hungry families is not the ultimate solution; we try to dig hard and revive the food system to ensure better results for the longer term.
Causes of Hunger in India
In India, amidst government and NGOs’ efforts, the number of hungry people has dropped significantly over the past two decades. Still, various people continue to struggle with hunger every day. Multiple factors contribute to the state of hunger both in India. The reasons are quite complex and varied, and often interconnected which are:
Poverty
Poverty is the prime reason behind hunger in India. The logic stands to be true in developing and poor underdeveloped countries alike. It is also true no matter whether people live in urban or rural areas. Most of the hungry people live in extreme poverty and fall into the category of BPL. The largest groups of people in India in extreme poverty are smallholder land farmers or remote areas. Though there are ample opportunities while living in remote areas, they fail to keep up with the minimum standards to feed themselves due to a lack of equipment and technology. They do not possess enough land to grow food to supply themselves with enough to eat year-round, and they earn so little from what they sell that they cannot afford to purchase hygienic food from other sources once their supply runs out. To extend any help in feeding hungry families, we first need to reconsider poverty’s core issue.
Job-related Instability
In a country like India, hunger is mainly caused by poverty that results from a lack of jobs or because jobs pay too little to afford decent food for the family. The hunger rate rises when the national or local economy is in a slump. People lose their jobs and cannot find work. Once the economy improves, some people continue to struggle to find work. For example, people who have been the victims of covid-19, like hawkers, vendors, face wide-scale discrimination that makes it difficult for them to re-establish their work once they reenter the market.
In single-parent families, the parent may not take a job or work enough hours because of no childcare options. To ensure the task of feeding hungry families, we also need to look into job instability. Our NGO for hunger in India provides job opportunities to facilitate feeding hungry families and people.
Food Wastage and Shortages
Food shortages in a country like India are common. The people most badly affected are smallholder land farmers and their families who depend on their production to survive between harvests. Food left from the previous harvest runs out, & families cut back on the meals. This period may last for months, depending on the harvest. Similarly, in India, families with meager incomes run out of finances at the end of the month. Thus, Families cut back on how much they eat and then eventually skip meals altogether for a few days.
Another reason for food shortages in India are due to a significant percentage of food grown is spoilage. Thus, smallholder farmers do not have adequate storage facilities and cold storage facilities to protect their supplies against pests and weather conditions. Food wastage is another significant reason for hunger in India. On the one hand, millions of people sleep on an empty stomach; on the other hand, privileged people who get the leisure of enjoying lavish and hygienic food waste it majorly. Feeding hungry families are not enough; making people aware of the importance of food is also essential.
Inadequacy in Infrastructure
Good infrastructure plays a vital role in food transportation. Poor infrastructure causes hunger by making it difficult — sometimes impossible — to transport food to remote areas of a country with shortages. People are heard of dying out of hunger in one part of the country while plenty of food is available in another place. The roads are not maintained to reach all who needed the food to survive. Crops require a fair amount of water to grow.
Irrigation infrastructure is unaffordable to most farmers in developing countries. A lack of water & sanitation infrastructure is the leading cause of hunger and malnutrition in India. Women and girls in India spend hours fetching water because of a lack of infrastructure, pulling women from other productive activities and girls out of school. Apart from feeding hungry families, our NGO is also dedicated to aiding for better infrastructure.
Climatic Conditions
A country like India is immensely suffering a lot from climatic changes. Climate change is the primary factor damaging food crops and water security in multiple ways. Climatic change is the most significant environmental challenge that the country often faces. Our success in meeting that challenge and the Government will determine whether the end of hunger remains in our sights. Feeding hungry families and families in need would be challenging enough without stable climate conditions.
In 30 years, the number of natural disasters like thunderstorms, droughts, cyclones, floods, etc.linked to climate change has increased in number substantially. The effects of climate change are often over-dramatic, devastating various areas that are already in bad shape. Infrastructure is damaged and destroyed; diseases spread quickly; people are no longer able to grow crops or raise livestock. Being an NGO for hunger-related issues, we assist needy ones by feeding hungry families and delivery assistance like capital assistance, means for livelihood, etc.
Unpredictable Events and Diseases
Various illnesses and diseases like tuberculosis, measles, and diarrhea are directly linked to malnutrition. A combination of sickness and malnutrition weakens metabolism, creating a vicious cycle of infection and undernourishment, leading to illness vulnerability. The lousy health affects a person’s productivity, prohibiting him from working, earning a decent living, and one-time food. There is a reason why we have believed that health is wealth; with good food comes good health and wealth. Being an NGO for hunger in India, we deliver good quality food to needy people and contribute by feeding hungry families.
Conflicts and Wars
Since time immemorial, wars and conflicts have been a significant reason behind food insecurity in India. Hunger is the direct cause and effect of war and conflict. A wide range of poverty and hunger leads to frustration and resentment with governments that appear to ignore hungry people’s plight and need. The poorest members of society suffer immensely worst during war and conflict.
Millions of homes are destroyed, and communities of people are severely displaced. The physical infrastructure needed for reconstruction is massively damaged and destroyed. People lose their jobs, farms; agriculture is at stake. The whole scenario directly affects the food system, leading to millions of people dying from hunger and starvation. Our duty at this hour of need is to feed hungry families and lend our support to the needy ones.
Efforts in Mitigating Hunger from Core
The Government has launched multiple programs and schemes to eradicate the fundamental cause of hunger from its roots. Our Government has taken various initiatives for feeding hungry families and supporting families in need. Some of the Government’s leading efforts are POSHAN Abhiyan, Integrating Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Mid-day meals, National Health Mission (NHM), etc.
To support the Government in their holy deeds and cause, Our NGO, Hindrise Foundation, has taken immense measures and is working relentlessly in facilitating the good act of feeding hungry families and aiding the needy families. As an NGO for hunger in India, we design interventions to reduce hunger among India’s suppressed communities. We develop several interventions to ensure nutritious meals for children in underserved societies where food acts as an incentive to proper education and skill development. Apart from feeding hungry families, we lead a movement to ensure zero hunger in India.
We are trying to become the change we want to see in the whole world regarding hunger issues. We help mobilize food from multiple sources to those in need and feed hungry families through solutions to ensure the lack of reliable meals is never a hindrance for a future and provides good education, better health, and better economic status. We try to bridge the gaps with our various functional schemes and programs by distributing and feeding hungry families and providing skill developments for one and all. Our NGO for hunger in India focuses on distributing Nutritious food to poor, needy children and feeding hungry families and other support. Our food distribution regimen is smooth, efficient & dependable-365 days a year.
Recently, in the lockdown period, we have served ration kits and food in the backward areas to help the underprivileged ones in emerging victorious against the COVID-19 pandemic. Hindrise Foundation, an NGO for hunger in India, has circulated approximately 4 lakh food packets in various parts of Delhi NCR amid the COVID-19 outbreak. We have distributed around 2 lakh ration kits to assist the migrant workers and make them fight hard against the negative consequences.
As we have created a strategy to ensure the essential needs of low-income families of migrant workers and other individuals living under reduced circumstances, we have issued more than 2 lakh face masks for making them sustain the lousy phase of COVID-19. Still, we have to maximize our efforts to contribute daily meals in every impoverished family’s house. We leave no stone unturned in availing decent facilities to families in need by feeding the hungry families.
Winding Up
Hindrise Foundation is a registered nonprofit, non-religious Non- Governmental organization working for underprivileged background children providing them the Nutritious meal by feeding hungry families and supporting needy families, with our workforce spread across the whole of India. The whole of the community has deeply recognized us for our outstanding services to society. Our motto is to feed hungry families and lend our support to families in need to ensure a better life for them.