POSHAN ATLAS

At the request of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health India Research Center has partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop India’s first Poshan Atlas, also known as Bhartiya Poshan Krishi Kosh. This agro-food database aims to encourage dietary diversity and control non-communicable diseases like obesity and diabetes. 

Led by Dr. Lindsay Jaacks, assistant professor of Global Health at Harvard Chan, the team will create the first-ever database in the world to link comprehensive information on what foods are traditionally consumed, what crop varieties are currently grown, and, given agro ecological contexts (e.g., soil organic carbon content, groundwater availability, etc.), provide guidance on how a greater diversity of crops could be encouraged in particular districts to promote dietary diversity and nutrition. Most data, particularly on agro ecological contexts, will come from existing government sources. To collect information on traditionally consumed foods, one of India’s biggest “citizen science” projects will be launched.

The POSHAN Atlas will map the current agri-food diversity of India and trace the long-forgotten historical crops prior to the Green Revolution. It also endeavors to prevent nutrition-related chronic diseases by encouraging the consumption of micronutrient-rich coarse grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables. The atlas will support ecological sustainability and climate resilience by aligning the nutritional needs of citizens with the country’s natural cropping patterns and agricultural production.

This project will be freely available to policymakers, administrators, experts, and communities to help improve India’s nutrition status and strive towards a malnutrition-free India. The atlas and its accompanying app will be updated regularly based on user feedback and new insights in nutrition science.

To launch the “Bhartiya Poshan Krishi Kosh”, Dr. Lindsay Jaacks and the India Research Center in partnership with the National Nutrition Mission, held a National Stakeholder Consultation with NITI Aayog, Ministries of of Women and Child, Agriculture, Food and Public Distribution, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, National Institute of Nutrition, and development partners including BMGF, IFPRI and PHFI, amongst others.

The scope of Stakeholder Consultation was to discuss the proposed Poshan Atlas and its policy implications for agricultural production, crop diversification & climate resilience. Additionally, the consultation discussed the plans for crowd-sourcing India’s nutritional dietary diversity and mobilization of key stakeholders for uptake of the “Poshan Atlas”.