While India has seen impressive economic growth in recent years, the country still struggles with widespread poverty and hunger. India's poor population amounts to more than 300 million people, with almost 30 percent of India's rural population living in poverty. The good news is, poverty has been on the decline in recent years. According to official government of India estimates, poverty declined from 37.2% in 2004-05 to 29.8% in 2009-10.
India is home to 25 percent of the world's hungry population. An estimated 43 per cent of children under the age of five years are malnourished (WFP 2012). India remains an important global agricultural player, despite the fact that agriculture's share in the country's economy is declining. It has the world's largest area under cultivation for wheat, rice, and cotton, and is the world's largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices (World Bank 2012). Nearly three-quarters of India's households are dependent on rural incomes. Agricultural productivity in the country's semi-arid tropical region is impeded by water shortages and recurrent drought, while environmental degradation and vulnerability to weather-related disasters pose challenges to the country as a whole.
Poor populations also face a lack of access to productive assets, financial resources, education, health care, and basic social services. The government has recently begun to focus on microenterprise development as a way to address these challenges, as well as initiatives to bring basic services to the rural poor. With the country's population and economy continuing to grow, huge demands will be placed on critical infrastructure in the coming years. It is estimated that US$1 trillion will be needed to meet India's infrastructure needs in the next five years (World Bank 2012).
People's Forum has been sensitive to the issues that affect and increase the vulnerability of population. One of the important areas of intervention of the organization has been an attempt to create and strengthen local organizations and capacitate and them to address their issues and challenges besides creating opportunities and services for the better development of these populations. So be it the formation and strengthening of farmers club or women SHGs, organization has supported their cause with empathy. Currently it has ventured into the direct arena of food security set up centralized kitchen in two districts of the State. In the initial phases these kitchens would be working to provide quality nutritional food to the children of government schools of the indicated districts.
Annapurna Anand Bhandar:- Where feeding is a Passion
Annapurna Anand Bhandar is an attempt to provide cooked nutritional quality food to some of the most important segments of the society including government school children. In the initial phases the organization would be basically catering to the district of Khorda and Nayagarh under the Mid day meal program of Government of India. Centralised kitchens have already being established in the two districts and it is expected that the two kitchens would be fully functional by mid November 2016.
Feeding to Unfed:- A programme towards a hungerfree Smart City --- Under designed.
This is a unique program with a vision to reach out to the most vulnerable section of society in the State capital of Odisha. The modalities of the program are under construction.
200 Farmer Clubs in Place in Boudh, Dhenkanal & Sonepur Districts.
India is even today an agrarian society and it is an accepted fact that unless the state of agriculture improves in the Country, ensuring food security to one an all will remain a distant dream. The entire idea of forming and supporting farmers club is an attempt to support one of the most important sections of society and create avenues to help them realize their full potential. These farmers club are provides loans, trainings and such other support that are essential for them to improve the status of farming in their area.
8 Seed Village, Organic Farming, & Agri-Allied Activities covered in two districts.