While India has seen considerable economic growth over the past three
decades, the gap between the rich and the poor remains wide in the country. According to the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index around 55% of Indians are poor, with majority of them currently living on less than $1.25 a day. This number is above 70% in most of our target states, such as Jharkhand, Bihar or Madhya Pradesh.

Over 42.5 % of the country’s children are malnourished and more than 1.2 million children die each year before reaching their fifth birthday. India’s low ranking (130 among 188 countries) in the Human Development Index indicates once again that the situation is worrisome and that enormous efforts are needed to improve lives of millions of people in the country.

With Food and Nutrition Security as its core mandate, Welthungerhilfe’s work in India focuses on  the’Availability’, ‘Access’, ‘Utilization’ and ‘Stability’ of resources the communities have.

The key objective is to secure better living conditions for the disadvantaged groups through:

• sustainable resource management,
• promotion of civil society institutions,
• access to government development programmes (entitlements),
• and through developing the capacities and abilities of the target groups in line with the principle of help for self-help approach.

In close collaboration with local communities and partner organisations, Welthungerhilfe has been currently working in the following four priority sectors in India: Rural Livelihoods and Sustainable Agriculture, WASH and Water Security, Governance and Peace and Natural Resource Management and Climate Resilience.

Welthungerhilfe India consists of a team of specialists who coordinate between partners and different actors, provide technical support and ensure the smooth implementation of its initiatives undertaken in states such as Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.