Bhubaneswar: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the state government will work on improving household assistance to make Odisha a nutritional hub for food security, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushma Chandra Patro said Thursday.
“This is a significant initiative for achieving nutritional security in the state focused on empowerment, livelihood, and incomes of women,” Patro added.
He said this while meeting with United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) Odisha chief Elisabeth Faure and WFO field chief officer Himanshu Bal. The minister further said the state government’s close collaboration with WFP will help the state to ensure that nutritious vitamin-enriched rice (fortified rice) helps in eradicating malnutrition in the state.
Faure said that the partnership will continue with WFP and will promote the state as a Centre of Excellence in the global market. During the discussion, special secretary Mohammad Quamrul Haque and other dignitaries were present. The partnership will enhance the quality of food in regular diet of individual which will contribute to nutrition, improved living standards and better health benefits in the state. All these know-how are readily available from other developed countries to the state in particular through WFP.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP