Overview
The effects of COVID-19 continued into 2022, with a third, but milder wave of the pandemic affecting India in January and February. The country was also impacted by extreme weather, when an unusual heat wave significantly affected its breadbasket region in the final weeks of the wheat production season.
To ensure sufficient stock in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme, the Indian Government banned the export of wheat in May and August, and further restricted the exports of other wheat products. By early September, the Government also banned the exports of broken rice. Under PMGKAY, which began in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government provided top-ups of 5 kg of free rice or wheat per person per month for all PDS beneficiaries.
In a matter of months, the Government went from having a huge surplus of food grains to just having enough to meet their annual requirements for the National Food Security Act (NFSA) food-based social protection systems. Therefore,
WFP’s work to make these systems more efficient and effective was especially appreciated by the Government. For example, the initial work on supply chain optimization, which reduced transportation costs by up to 75 percent in Uttarakhand, led to the Government instructing states to undertake similar route optimization. The installation of WFP’s automated food grain dispensing machines - Annapurti - in five states created additional demand from state governments wishing to provide entitlements more efficiently and transparently. Nearly 60,000 PDS beneficiaries were accessing their entitlements through Annapurti by end-2022.
WFP’s support for the national roll-out of fortified rice in all the Government’s food-based social protection programmes expanded in 2022 to seven states, reaching over 280 million NFSA beneficiaries with fortified rice. Last year, WFP’s work with women’s self-help groups to produce fortified blended supplementary food for use in the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programmes led the Government of Uttar Pradesh to invest in WFP to expand the programme to all 75 districts in 2022. The Government also agreed to scale up fortified rice in all food-based safety nets, backed with USD 360 million in funding to reach over 800 million people.
In September, WFP received a request from the Ministry of Agriculture’s G20 working group to provide technical and coordination support as they moved forward in preparing to host the G20. On 1 December, India assumed the presidency of the G20.
National evaluation capacity strengthening remained a priority through a partnership with the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) of the Government’s think-tank, NITI Aayog, through which WFP worked with the planning departments of two states.
On disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, WFP continued working with the University of Reading to adapt the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture for use in Odisha. WFP also partnered with the WFP Innovation Accelerator to pilot the use of Takachar technology to convert agricultural waste into fertilizer. Lastly, WFP’s joint five-year proposal with Sri Lanka for the Adaptation Fund was submitted and approved.
WFP’s work on disability and inclusion progressed through a partnership with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research Training Institute in Odisha to plan a study of tribal groups in the state in 2023. WFP also partnered with Swabhiman, an organization of persons with disabilities, to conduct a study on the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in accessing entitlements from government programmes.
WFP's main partners include the Ministry of Agriculture (nodal ministry), the Departments of Food and Public Distribution (national and at Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh state levels), the Mission Shakti in Odisha, the Department of Women and Child Development (Odisha,
Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh), the State Rural Livelihoods Mission in Uttar Pradesh, the Ministry of Education,
Departments of Education (Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh), the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog and the Planning Departments in Odisha and Rajasthan, the National Institute of Disaster Management, the Odisha Millet Mission, and the Odisha Department of Agriculture. WFP also continued partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi and the Food Safety Standards Authority of India and initiated a partnership with the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics.