Food Security Atlas of Rural Jharkhand 2022

The National Multidimensional Poverty Index Baseline Report 2021 by NITI Aayog reported Jharkhand as having the second-highest multidimensional poverty among all Indian states. The SDG India Index 2020-21 also ranked Jharkhand as the second worst performing state in terms of overall SDGs and worst in SDG 2, that is, ‘zero hunger’.

While the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) score for rural Jharkhand decreased from 0.246 in 2015-16 to 0.183 in 2019-2021, it remains higher than its neighbouring states of Chhattisgarh (0.12), Odisha (0.11), and the national average (0.10).

According to the report, Jharkhand is primarily an agrarian state but with a less developed agricultural economy. The state’s net sown area comprises 33.9 per cent of its geographical area. It adds that Jharkhand’s soil structure is poor with low fertility. Almost 90 per cent of the soils are acidic in nature, deficient in nutrients, and with poor water retention capacity.

Agriculture in Jharkhand is primarily rain-fed but irrigation coverage varies across the state with the central and north-eastern plateau zones heavily dependent on monsoon. The north-western part of the state has more irrigation. With only about 15 per cent of gross cropped area under irrigation, high variation of irrigation coverage among districts (less than one per cent in Seraikala Kharsawan to around 59 per cent in Latehar) adds to high instability in food grain production.

While rice is the most important crop in Jharkhand making up around 71 per cent of overall agricultural production, its average yield is low due to poor irrigation and low use of fertilisers, the report states. It adds that rice production in the state is practiced only for self-consumption.

The report identifies Ranchi, Purbi Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Latehar and Hazaribagh as food secure districts. It identifies the entire Santhal Pargana region, except Dumka, as alarmingly food insecure and Jamtara, Godda, Garhwa, Pakur, and Saraikela-Kharsawan districts as highly food insecure with regards to food availability.

The quality of drinking water supports effective absorption of nutrients by the human body and poor-quality drinking water is a major cause of diarrhoea and several other waterborne diseases which also lead to food and nutrition insecurity. Unfortunately, Jharkhand ranks very low among India states in terms of rural access to improved sources of drinking water.

The report underscores the correlation of women’s literacy to better nutritional knowledge and health practices in households. Jharkhand stands among the worst performing states for female literacy at just 60 per cent, with rural literacy being very low in the entire Santhal Pargana Division.

The availability, access and utilisation of food and nutrition, supported with literacy, access to healthcare and WASH facilities, directly corresponds to the percentage of malnourished children and women in the state. Around 41.4 per cent of children under the age of five in Jharkhand were found to be underweight, double than the percentage recorded in Punjab and Kerala. Further, according to NFHS-5, nearly 40 per cent of the children under the age of five showed stunting and 22 per cent suffered from wasting.

The report highlights three main indicators of food and nutritional security – per capita value of agricultural output in terms of cereal crops in the rural areas, percentage of workers other than agricultural labourers and disguised unemployment, and female literacy rate. Based on this, the report makes the following recommendations: Investment in rain harvesting structures through construction that could be undertaken through MGNREGA; diversification of food basket and nutritional security by increasing production of millets especially in drought prone areas; and promotion of kitchen gardens in Anganwadi centres to improves access to vegetables and fruits to ensure a micro-nutrient secure diet.

It also calls for expanding investment in allied sectors of agriculture like fishing, livestock rearing, food processing, and processing of non-timber forest products in rural Jharkhand to diversify and increase employment and livelihood opportunities.

Focus and Factoids by Deepashree Maledavar.

PARI Library’s health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.