IIT Bombay, WFP sign MoU to strengthen food security, nutrition, climate & livelihood in India

The agreement provides a collaborative framework between IIT Bombay and UN WFP to share the expertise and resources for advancing and promoting technological and programmatic solutions.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for contributing towards improving food security, nutrition, climate resilience, and livelihoods. “The MoU provides a collaborative framework between WFP and IITB to leverage their collective expertise and resources for advancing and promoting technological and programmatic solutions. These solutions will enhance existing systems and facilitate the effective utilisation of evidence in the critical areas of food, nutrition, climate, and livelihoods to benefit those who need it the most,” said Professor Sachin C. Patwardhan, Dean (R&D), IITB.

“Our immediate areas of collaboration will include a micro study to understand the effect of climate change on food security, nutrition, and livelihoods of the vulnerable households in a select geography in India. We will also leverage upon the qualified senior students of IIT Bombay to support us in the data quality monitoring work for a massive evaluation of the NITI Aayog for which WFP facilitates the technical support,” Elisabeth Faure, Representative and Country Director of the World Food Programme in India, said.

The MoU is signed in the presence of Professor K V Krishna Rao, Deputy Director (FEA), IITB, Dr Abhay Kumar, Head, RAM and Evaluation Unit, WFP India, Prof. Anand B. Rao, Head & Professor, Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA), IITB and Prof. Satish B. Agnihotri, Emeritus Fellow, CTARA, IITB. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay will work together to establish a comprehensive knowledge management system. This system will involve identifying and analysing relevant data, research, and evidence generation related to food and nutrition security. They plan to share knowledge, best practices, and insights on nutrition, food security, and sustainable agriculture through various platforms.

In addition, they aim to design and deliver training and capacity-building programs for government agencies, civil society organizations, and nutrition and food security stakeholders. Furthermore, the partnership will focus on ecosystem development for technology and innovations, where sustainable technological solutions will be identified, developed, and scaled to bolster government food safety net programs. Real-time monitoring systems and dashboards using administrative data sets will be created to generate actionable evidence concerning food and nutrition security in India.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 was awarded to World Food Programme (WFP) "for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict"

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