Venkatesan Purushothaman, Sivaramane Nilakandan, Srinivasa Rao Ch, Venkattakumar Ramanujam, Sivakumar Sethuraman, Mooventhan Palanisamy, Burman Rajarshi Roy, Kalyani Bommu, Challa Lalitha Navya
ICAR- National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad, India.
ICAR- Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Front Nutr. 2025 Jan 14;11:1423599. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1423599. eCollection 2024.
Nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions are crucial in addressing malnutrition and promoting food security. The Farmer, Farm, Innovation, Resources, Science, and Technology (FIRST) Program is a national-level agricultural intervention program that was started in 2016 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Its primary objective is to transform the lives and livelihoods of Indian farmers, with a focus on income and livelihood security. This program envisages agricultural interventions ensuring national food security goals, with improved agricultural practices, enhanced food production, and increased access to nutritious food, especially for vulnerable populations.
This study aims to investigate the food security improvement resulting from implementing nutrition-sensitive interventions introduced under the Farmer FIRST Program (FFP) in 15 agroecological zones. Four key indicators were employed to assess food security in the technology-focused field intervention: food availability, purchasing power, food gap, and food diversity. Food availability was measured at the macro level (state or national) using per capita food availability. However, at the micro level, particularly for farmers who produce their food and are secure in terms of availability, yield increases from the selected interventions under FFP served as an alternative measure. Purchasing power was assessed by the additional income generated to buy food during the off-season. The food gap was assessed using the cereal equivalent quantity (CEQ), which captures an aspect of consumers' nutritional security. Its impact in India was evaluated using the propensity score matching technique with difference-in-difference (D-i-D) measure to estimate the unbiased overall effect on food security. Food diversity was captured using Barry's index.
A sample of 2,282 respondents were interviewed from 2016 to 2020 to elicit data on the prevalence of undernutrition in India, which is 16.3%. The results revealed that post-intervention of the FFP, cereal availability increased by 147.74% in the Northern Plain, while pulses recorded over 200% growth in three regions. The incremental per capita farm income exceeded INR 20,000 in several zones, with the Northern Plain showing an increase of over 21 times. Food diversity improved marginally, supported by the integrated farming system. Overall, FFP interventions transformed nutritional security, benefiting 1,915 households, particularly in regions with historically low calorie intake, thereby demonstrating substantial gains in food security and living standards.
The Farmer FIRST Program (FFP) has significantly improved dietary intake among participating households, enhancing food security. Nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions under the FFP have reduced undernutrition by increasing food availability, boosting purchasing power, and narrowing the food gap.
营养敏感型农业干预措施对于解决营养不良问题和促进粮食安全至关重要。农民、农场、创新、资源、科学与技术（FIRST）计划是一项国家级农业干预计划，由印度农业研究理事会（ICAR）于2016年启动。其主要目标是改变印度农民的生活和生计，重点是收入和生计保障。该计划设想通过改进农业实践、提高粮食产量以及增加特别是弱势群体获取营养食品的机会，实施农业干预措施以确保国家粮食安全目标。
本研究旨在调查在15个农业生态区实施农民FIRST计划（FFP）引入的营养敏感型干预措施后粮食安全的改善情况。采用四个关键指标来评估以技术为重点的田间干预措施中的粮食安全：粮食供应、购买力、粮食缺口和食物多样性。粮食供应在宏观层面（邦或国家）使用人均粮食供应量来衡量。然而，在微观层面，特别是对于自己生产粮食且供应有保障的农民，FFP选定干预措施带来的产量增加作为替代衡量指标。购买力通过在淡季购买粮食所产生的额外收入来评估。粮食缺口使用谷物当量（CEQ）来评估，它反映了消费者营养安全的一个方面。使用倾向得分匹配技术和差分法（D-i-D）来评估其在印度的影响，以估计对粮食安全的无偏总体效应。食物多样性使用巴里指数来衡量。
在2016年至2020年期间，对2282名受访者进行了抽样访谈，以获取印度营养不良患病率的数据，该患病率为16.3%。结果显示，FFP干预后，北部平原的谷物供应量增加了147.74%，而在三个地区豆类的增长超过200%。几个地区人均农业收入增量超过20000印度卢比，北部平原增长超过21倍。在综合农业系统的支持下，食物多样性略有改善。总体而言，FFP干预改变了营养安全状况，使1915户家庭受益，特别是在历史卡路里摄入量较低的地区，从而在粮食安全和生活水平方面取得了显著成效。
农民FIRST计划（FFP）显著改善了参与家庭的饮食摄入，增强了粮食安全。FFP下的营养敏感型农业干预措施通过增加粮食供应、提高购买力和缩小粮食缺口，减少了营养不良。
