question_answer

Direction: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Recently, there has been a lot of emphasis on the fink- ages between agriculture and nutrition, which can be improved by three entry points. The first of these is in ensuring inclusiveness and equity in agriculture that can be achieved by increasing agricultural productivity in rain fed and resource-poor areas. This in turn will help raise the productivity and income of small and marginal farmers. The bulk of the rural poor, as well as small and marginal farmers, live in such resource-poor areas, where under-nutrition is largely prevalent. The second is in policies to diversify diet in order to improve micro-nutrients and the third is in having agricultural policies to empower women. In all this, it must not be forgotten that climate change poses a major challenge to agriculture.

This year is the International Year of Family Farming; it needs to be noted that Dr. M.S. Swaminathan has often mentioned the importance of family farming in offering an effective and an economic solution to ensuring that every person has access to nutritious food. Biofortification is one way of having access to micronutrients. According to Prof. Swaminathan, we should also help promote naturally biofortified crops such as sweet potato,moringa (drumsticks), bread fruit and various berries which are rich in micronutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin C.

The importance of sanitation and safe drinking water in reducing malnutrition is well known. Therefore, ensuring improvements in sanitation is urgently needed as it is a big predictor of malnutrition.

It is heartening to see that social protection programmes have helped in improving nutrition. Further, the strengthening of social protection programmes like ICDS, PDS, mid-day meal schemes and MGNREGA are needed to achieve nutrition security. Although delivery systems have improved in programmes like PDS, the leakages are still high.

The consequences of under-nutrition are well known. Stunting and under-nutrition are the main contributing factors for child mortality, disability and disease. There are also the harmful effects of an inadequate intake of specific micronutrients essential for brain development and the nervous system. For example, iron deficiency is known to affect a child's performance in school. In short, "hidden hunger" has to be reduced.

In conclusion, it has to be recognised that ignoring hunger and malnutrition will have significant costs to any country's development. Nutrition improvement has both intrinsic and instrumental value. Some estimates indicate that there is a 2 to 3 per cent GDP loss due to low productivity. The returns to investments in food and nutrition are quite high. Every dollar spent on intervenetions to reduce stunting is estimated to generate about 30 in economic returns. The government should understand the intrinsic value to people and instrumental value of nutrition in terms of GDP gain and returns to investment. Therefore, some urgency needs to be shown by the government and others concerned in order to eliminate hunger and malnutrition particularly among children and women.

Which of the following is the entry point that can link agriculture with nutrition?

A)  Agricultural policies to empower women

B)  Policies to diversify diet

C) Ensuring inclusiveness and equity in agriculture

D)  All of these

E)  None of these