From Seeds to School Plates: Nourishing Children in India

A new project partnership between the Happel Foundation and HarvestPlus is increasing the nutritional quality of school meals for two million children in India. The nearly four-year project will also bring much-needed nutrition and livelihood benefits to an additional 20,000 farming households, who will be supported to produce biofortified grain and guaranteed procurement of their harvests into the school food system.

The Indian government implements a Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), the largest school feeding program in the world—reaching 120 million children aged 6-10 years old daily with a free cooked meal. And yet, Indian children suffer from the highest rates of undernourishment in the world. Malnutrition in early life is associated with poor life-long outcomes, including decreased productivity and higher prevalence of nutrition-related chronic diseases.