OUR RESEARCH ARTICLES
At Gift Of Nutrition, our mission has always been to address the day-to-day struggles faced by the weaker communities of our country, while uncovering feasible solutions for the same. Through our intricate research, we aim to discover new intersections between problems faced by Indians and spread awareness about them.
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IS CLIMATE CHANGE WORSENING MALNUTRITION IN INDIA?
By Aashna Thomas
In today’s day and age, climate change is increasingly recognized as a significant threat to global health and well-being. One of the most concerning repercussions of climate change is its potential to exacerbate malnutrition, particularly in vulnerable populations. In India, a country already grappling with complex nutritional challenges, the interplay between climate change and malnutrition poses a grave concern for public health. Today, ensuring food security in the face of climate change is a formidable challenge that must be one of our foremost development priorities. As a concept, food security encompasses three primary aspects: food availability, food access, and food absorption, all of which are yet to be attained to the fullest in India. (Chakraborty, 2023)
The careless actions of our species seems to have created a world where feeding and nourishing the population is becoming increasingly challenging. Climate change is impacting the global food system in a manner that increases the threats to those already suffering from hunger and undernutrition. As of March 2023, more than 14 lakh children in India have been identified as severely malnourished. (Laxmi , 2024) Despite the country’s relatively high rate of economic growth in recent years, there has been no corresponding reduction in hunger and malnutrition. The prevalence of undernutrition in India has decreased only slightly from 210.1 million in 1990 to 194.6 million in 2014. As of May 2023, 12 Indian states fall under the ‘alarming’ category of the Global Hunger Index. Research also indicates that children living in districts with a very high degree of climate vulnerability are more prone to malnutrition as compared to those in districts with lower climate vulnerability. Climate vulnerable zones refer to those districts or areas that are more susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. The proportion of children below 5 years of age who are underweight is significantly high in the states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, both of which fall under climate vulnerable zones. Over the years, it has been demonstrated that children from districts classified as climate vulnerable have a 32% higher likelihood of experiencing stunting, a 42% higher likelihood of wasting, a 45% higher likelihood of being underweight, and a 63% higher likelihood of suffering from anaemia as compared to those from districts which are less climate vulnerable. (Mahapatra et al., 2021) In these climate vulnerable zones, temperature rises have led to a significant decrease in the yields of certain food crops like rice, wheat and maize which form a crucial part of the local staple diet. This has not only impacted food security but also aggravated the malnutrition situation in the country. Here’s how.
One of the many repercussions of climate change in climate vulnerable zones is the alteration of seasonal rainfall patterns. Such alterations tend to increase the frequency of extreme rainfall events. Since droughts and floods are two sides of the same coin, such rainfall patterns also bring about acute cases of water scarcity. In a country like India, where rain-fed agriculture constitutes 65% of all cultivated land, this poses a significant risk to the production of essential crops. Climate change’s impact on water availability has been particularly severe in India because large parts of the country already suffer from water scarcity and rely heavily on groundwater for irrigation. Approximately 54% of India's groundwater wells are already experiencing declining water levels, with 16% of them decreasing at a rate exceeding one metre per year. With longer periods of reduced precipitation and dry spells, India's reliance on groundwater for irrigation will intensify, placing an even greater strain on water resources in the years to come. This will inevitably lead to a rise in food prices, making nutritious food even less affordable and accessible for a large part of the Indian population having limited resources.
Additionally, there is mounting evidence that climate change has caused a reduction in the nutritional value of crops grown in India. Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of climate change have been found to change the nutrient composition of specific crops. For example, elevated CO2 levels can lower the protein, iron, and zinc content in staple crops like wheat, rice, and soybeans. This alteration can profoundly affect the nutritional quality of diets and worsen deficiencies in essential micronutrients among communities highly dependent on these crops. In fact, it is projected that by 2050, an additional 175 million people in India may face a zinc deficiency, and an additional 122 million people may suffer from protein deficiencies. (Sharma, 2019)
Extreme weather brought about by climate change can also increase the incidence of diseases and health problems, diverting household resources towards healthcare instead of food purchases. This is how we arrive at the second aspect of food security- food access. Limited access to food, even when it is accessible in markets, can increase the likelihood of malnutrition due to affordability constraints. The last key aspect of food security is food absorption which essentially refers to the human body’s ability to effectively utilise nutrients from the food consumed. Even if food is available and accessible, poor absorption due to infections, poor sanitation, and inadequate healthcare can lead to nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition. Climate change exacerbates these challenges by increasing the incidence of waterborne diseases and foodborne illnesses due to extreme weather events and changing environmental conditions. This further affects food absorption and contributes to malnutrition risks in vulnerable populations in India.
To conclude, it is evident that the ill effects of climate change, if not curtailed or dealt with effectively, will continue to worsen the already dire malnutrition problem faced by our country. To facilitate India in its battle against undernutrition it is of utmost importance that we attain the highest degree of food security possible and ensure equitable access to nutritious food for all segments of our society!
GENDERED REALITIES OF SANITATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN INDIA : INTERSECTIONS AND CHALLENGES
By Aashna Thomas
In India, the issues of sanitation and climate change are pressing concerns that
affect different genders in different ways, particularly women. Varying levels of
economic development within the country have created numerous challenges,
aggravated by existing gender inequalities. For example, women, particularly in rural
India, often bear the primary responsibility for household water management and
sanitation tasks. They are typically responsible for fetching water, managing
household hygiene, and ensuring family health, which makes them more vulnerable
when clean water and sanitation are lacking.
By adopting a new gender perspective while framing policies regarding climate and
sanitation, policy-makers can help reduce adverse health impacts. (Sorensen et al.,
2018) Efficient WASH systems lessen the time and effort that women spend on
water collection and sanitation tasks. This helps free up time for their educational
pursuits as well as income-generating activities. In this way, women will be able to
contribute to the economy while also gaining access to cleaner sanitation facilities,
making this a win-win situation for all parties involved!
Climate resilient WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) systems refer to those
services and behaviours that continue to deliver benefits even within a changing
climate context. Such robust WASH systems aim to improve
resilience to climate change while benefiting users of all genders.
In countries like India where 55 per cent of women in the workforce work in the
agricultural sector, changing weather patterns has had a pronounced impact on their
overall well-being. These factors don’t just affect how much food is grown but also
exacerbates the existing challenges related to sanitation and hygiene. Unpredictable
weather disrupts farming cycles and reduces crop yields, directly affecting women's
economic livelihoods. Further, the lack of access to proper sanitation makes life even
harder, compromising women's health and dignity. Fixing these interrelated problems
requires an integrated approach that prioritises climate-resilient agriculture and
improved sanitation facilities. This will help ensure that women can participate
effectively in agriculture while maintaining their health and well-being.
An important point to note is that among India's 23 million rural households led by
women, 10.11% fall below the poverty line with monthly earnings below ₹5,000,
while just 0.89% earn more than ₹10,000 per month. In contrast, 8.25% of all rural
Indian households earn above ₹10,000 per month. It is evident that
women-led households in rural India face heightened vulnerability to climate change
due to their restricted access to natural and economic resources.
As a result of rising global temperatures, different parts of India have become
increasingly susceptible to heatwaves and flooding as well as saline intrusion into
freshwater resources (including groundwater). Coastal flooding and fecal sludge
contamination have also become progressively common. Such phenomena not only
cause damage to water and sanitation facilities, but also interfere with the
seasonality of rivers, thereby affecting water availability in the country. This invariably leads to an increase in pathogens present in the water,
increasing the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid. Every year, 2
lakh children in our country die from diseases caused by fecal contamination. (293,
2016) All of the above circumstances, in turn, have had a highly gendered impact on
the country’s healthcare system. Women and girls who lack the satisfactory WASH
services are forced to travel tiring distances to collect water and use the toilet, not
only increasing their physical burdens but also exposing them to dangerous
situations including instances of sexual violence. Studies show that more than 300
million women and girls in India are forced to defecate in the open as a result of lack
of proper sanitation and infrastructure in the country. (293, 2016) In 2013, a senior
police officer in Bihar claimed that more than 400 women in India would have
‘escaped rape’ that year if they had toilets in their homes. (Biswas, 2014)
Lack of toilets is an enduring shame in a country like India which strives to be a
political superpower in the years to come. The current state of inadequate sanitation
infrastructure in the country not only threatens public health but also perpetuates
gender inequalities, denying women and girls their basic rights and dignity. By
adopting a gender perspective while dealing with climate and sanitation, we can
mitigate risks and empower women as agents of change. As India strives for
progress on the global stage, addressing these challenges must be a top priority to
ensure a sustainable future for all its citizens, regardless of their gender!