Nutrition insecurity for women in the marginal agro-ecosystems of the Indian Himalayas

Abstract

Poverty and adverse societal norms have deprived a majority of women in India of their basic rights, including those of access to adequate and nutritive food. Women in the Himalayas suffer a low social and economic status and a very high load of physical work requirement of households. They play a key role with respect to food production, being the main farmhands on their family farms, and managing household nutrition and diet. This paper presents the findings of a participative study in the Indian Himalayas on the nutrition status of households, with a special focus on women. The study reveals chronic calorie deficit and nutritionally poor diet, suffered by women and adolescent girls in the Himalayas. Interventions to address the issue included various small agricultural initiatives for women to improve production of nutritive food crops, and to enhance land and crop productivity and thereby increase food production and farm revenues.