1. shailja.katyal@timesgroup.com
I
ndia is home to one in every three
malnourished children in the world.
According to National Family Health
Survey (NFHS) data, 46 percent of
Indian children below three years are
underweight, while 38 percent are
stunted.
Despite the government's
commitment to reducing malnutrition
and low birth-weight through national
and state-level policies, the situation
remains grim.
There is ample opportunity for the
private sector to take the lead in tackling
chronic malnutrition and a number of
food companies have trained their sights
on the nutrition segment as part of their
CSR initiative.
GSK Consumer Healthcare launched a
campaign titled Horlicks Ahaar Abhiyan,
three years ago. This initiative adopts a
holistic approach towards improving the
health and nutrition needs of children in
the 3-6 year age bracket in the states of
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The basic thought behind Horlicks
Ahaar Abhiyan is to provide
malnourished children and their
communities access to better nutrition.
This project is not about providing meals
or one-time dietary supplements to
malnourished children. The project starts
by identifying children suffering from
varying degrees of malnutrition and
providing relevant intervention.
Says Jayant Singh, EVP - Marketing,
GSK Consumer Healthcare, "Not only
has this initiative helped people at the
margins of our society but also helped
build societal trust for our brands. We
believe that only when the society that
we live in prospers, our business and our
brands will prosper. We have now
activated the campaign in a big way on
digital - with a website, a Facebook
page, an App and on social media. The
digital campaign has given us a lot of
scalability; as the campaign now reaches
a larger geography and is also sustained
through the year."
The NGO partners for the campaign
undertake nutritional counselling for the
mothers and families with the help of
local self-help groups (Anganwadis).
This is a scientific approach which
includes specific customised
interventions, counselling, training in
healthy practices, behaviour change and
inclusion of everyday locally available
nutritious recipes.
Last year, Kellogg India supported the
'India Breakfast Habits Study' which
showed that 1 in 4 Indians claim to skip
breakfast and a whopping 72% have a
nutritionally inadequate breakfast. Post
this revelation, Kellogg's embarked on
the Power of Breakfast Initiative with the
intent of spreading the awareness about
the importance of breakfast among
Indians. In January 2014, KelloggIndia
launched the Kellogg's Breakfast Pledge
initiative. This initiative called upon
people through various touch points to
take a pledge to eat breakfast every day;
with every pledge, Kellogg's would gift a
breakfast to a child. This was successfully
culminated by partnering with United
Way of Mumbai (UWM). 400,000
Indians unitedly pledged their support
and the company delivered on its
commitment, by gifting 400,000
breakfasts to children in the cities of
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai,
Hyderabad and Kolkata. The breakfast
consisted of a pack of Kellogg's Anaaj Ka
Naashta and a Tetra Pak of milk along
with a bowl and spoon.
Speaking about this initiative,
Sangeeta Pendurkar, Managing Director,
Kellogg India, says, "In line with our
vision of creating a healthier nation, it is
our responsibility to ensure that young
India gets the right start to their day with
a nutritionally adequate breakfast. A
balanced breakfast is imperative to
growth and performance, and this is just
a start to our commitment of
encouraging the nation to adopt a habit
of eating balanced breakfast every day.
Besides advocating the importance of
breakfast, at Kellogg we have been
building the goodness of grains as part
of a balanced breakfast through our
communication 'Anaaj Ka Naashta, a
solid start for you'."
Clearly, these companies have been
able to align the ostensibly conflicting
aims of combating malnutrition and
profit-making and integrated prevention
of malnutrition into their core business.
They have been able to generate profit
out of their engagement with the "base
of the pyramid". The multiplier effect
that the socially-orientated corporate
engagement through commercial
enterprises creates can go a long way in
not just eradicating malnutrition but also
fostering sustainable economic
development.
Sweta Rawat
C
orporate Social
Responsibility is a huge
asset to the country's
development efforts. If
directed well, with a close look at
the needs of the poor
communities of the country, these
programmes can bring much
needed impact. In order to
enhance the quality of health
programmes and supplement
government schemes,
preventative measures have to be
identified and adopted as part of
corporate health schemes.
Cooperation with government
agencies and the ability to work
together will enhance productivity
and scale of the project.
Identifying the local
needs of target areas is
an essential
component of a
well-run initiative.
Health camps
are not entirely
useless. They
bring much
needed
medical
attention and awareness to rural
and outback communities.
However, a follow up is necessary
if health awareness and
improvement is truly what the
companies are trying to achieve.
Diagnostic health camps like eye
camps, diabetes testing, maternal
health monitoring, have been very
successful in India. Furthermore
people are then made aware of
and encouraged to use
government initiatives to address
the problems. But in general,
health camps only serve one
aspect of the healthcare system
and that is basic treatment.
Prevention can be targeted
through advocacy and awareness
and indeed, many companies
have adopted
sanitation
and
nutrition campaigns as part of
their CSR campaigns. However not
enough time or effort is spent in
understanding the problems of
the communities. For example, if
rural communities are provided
with a source of clean drinking
water, it would do away with the
prevalence of water borne
diseases like dysentery, cholera,
intestinal worms and even
typhoid.
Companies can also look at
contributing to government
schemes in a different way. A lot of
new technology is devoted to
solving key issues around the
globe. The question of how to
provide clean water and better
health is being asked by
governments all over the world.
Cooperation with the Indian
government agencies and shared
resources and information can
lead to well-planned exercises that
use the resources and skills of all
contributors in a balanced and
optimal way. Companies should
also consider working together for
CSR efforts. Instead of 10
companies running different
camps, coordinated efforts will
achieve more efficient social
initiatives with better utilization of
funds and resources being
devoted to researching the needs
then meeting them. Government
agencies and non-profit players
are essential partners in this entire
process.
(The writer is Co-founder and
Chairperson,
The Hans Foundation)
CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE
Committed to the promotion of balanced
nutrition, corporates are focussing on CSR
strategies that are thoroughly aligned with their
core businesses
aking a
eaningful
difference
Research, coordination and transparency of efforts
and funds can make CSR programmes in the
health sector more efficient and productive
M
l
COOPERATION WITH
THE INDIAN
GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES AND
SHARED RESOURCES
AND INFORMATION
CAN LEAD TO
WELL-PLANNED
EXERCISES
Thebusinessof
tacklingmalnutrition
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