As the world marked yet another World Environment Day, the urgent and collective action toward a sustainable future has never been more pressing. Among the most critical and interconnected challenges we face are hidden hunger and climate change — dual threats that undermine both human health and environmental resilience.
Hidden hunger, the chronic deficiency of essential vitamins and minerals, affects more than three billion people and costs the global economy an estimated $3.5 trillion annually. At the same time, climate change continues to disrupt food systems, reducing crop yields, raising input costs, and diminishing the nutritional quality of staple foods like wheat and rice. Addressing these crises through nutrition-smart, environmentally sustainable farming systems is not just a necessity, but a global imperative.
The 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition report reveals alarming statistics: 2.4 billion people face hunger globally, with 900 million experiencing severe food insecurity. In India alone, micronutrient deficiencies are widespread, with the country hosting nearly a third of the world’s stunted children. Particularly concerning is zinc deficiency, affecting approximately 300 million Indians — 22 per cent of the population — including 44 per cent of children under five.
