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India may be able to leverage higher income levels over the next few decades to “graduate” from the current food distribution programme, and focus more strongly on diet diversification and fortification, Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates said.
He was speaking to ET in a video interview to mark the launch of the Gates Foundation Goalkeepers Report 2024, which identifies malnutrition as a key global concern.
Gates acknowledged that the inexpensive cereal given out through the public distribution system (PDS) is currently helping consumers. India has also managed to balance low food costs with minimal impact on farmers.
“In the US, we have graduated from needing to have this type of food distribution. We have ‘food stamps,’ where you get money, and you can only use it to buy food,” Gates told ET. “At some point-it could be more than a decade-hopefully, you can graduate from having to have a PDS and just rely on the fact that you have raised incomes and educated consumers.”
Suggesting possible policy interventions for India, Gates pointed to a nutritional focus-from maternal health to protein and anaemia-specific fortification.
“At this point, I would say three things that are very clear. One, help pregnant women with the multiple micronutrient supplementation,” he said. “We are working with Indian manufacturers to get the cost of that down. It isn’t much more than the current two things you get-iron and folic acid.”
“Second would be food fortification. And then we already work in India to raise both dairy and egg productivity to get the cost of protein-rich foods down,” he said.
While commending the improved targeting of beneficiaries under the midday meal scheme, Gates told ET the foundation and the Indian government are aiming to help tackle anaemia through the programme. “We are strongly looking at questions such as with what vehicles can we help reduce these anaemia levels,” he said. “We do have to find the right, low-cost way. Some of the food used in PDS in general, or midday meal specifically, is where we are learning.””Using PDS to bootstrap better diets is where we are working closely with the Indian government, on how we can make quicker progress,” he added.
Gates also underlined the need to address malnutrition as a critical economic input. “India’s main asset is its young population. If they are totally healthy, then, as the educational opportunities improve, that’s what (will) really drive economic growth. It’s fair to say India cares about nutrition,” he said. “There’s still a lot to be done, but the recognition is there that it’s very important to diversify the diet.”
There is interest in innovation in India and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is a partner in that endeavour, he said.
Gates also noted the paradox of malnutrition and overnutrition coexisting in many nations, including India now.
“India has the challenge that it is facing not only the need to solve malnutrition and its effects, but it’s also starting to see the obesity challenges coming in. So, you have to deal with both of these at once,” he said. “As consumers get richer, super-processed foods will be a bigger part of their diet. But making sure that they don’t cause another type of nutrition problem-overnutrition-that really deserves attention on a global basis.”
Commending India’s increased self-sufficiency and improved tax collection, Gates noted that it did not rely much on foreign aid now and is hence not as impacted by cuts in overseas assistance that are hurting several other nations, especially in Africa.
“It’s interesting that India, as it has grown its economy and increased tax collection, it is almost entirely self-sufficient and the percentage of foreign aid coming is quite tiny, although donors like myself feel that it is still catalytic and it drives great partnerships,” he said. “For the Gates Foundation, it’s both to help India and also learn in India, so we can take those practices to other countries, particularly into Africa, where the economic development is at a much earlier stage.”
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