Nutrition programs have an important role in India. Nutrition is related to agricultural production and consumption. The second goal of sustainable development goals commits the Member States to “end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (Jones and Ejeta, 2016). Persistent hunger, malnutrition, and ill health threaten the ability of many countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Realistic estimates of the benefit can be expected from supplemental nutrition given in the context of “holistic” programs to tackle undernutrition in children (Kinra et al., 2008). 

Shortage of food has not been unknown to societies the world over throughout the ages. India, with a vast population and uncertain harvest due to dependence on monsoon rains, has always been vulnerable to famines. The countries in the North also face year-to-year variation in precipitation and resultant fluctuations in harvests. Their buffer stocks and their ability to purchase allow them to sail through such fluctuations with no adverse impact on food security. However, in countries like India, dependent as they are on vagaries of the monsoon, even one year of drought can depress the production very substantially and also dry up the reserves and pipeline stocks. A second successive year of drought not only further depresses the production, but also barely leaves anything in the private or community stocks. Further, it dries up the pipelines completely. The situation then becomes ripe for famine. The problem was further compounded earlier due to a lack of transportation facilities and even if there were surplus foodgrains stocks in one part of the country, it would not be possible to transfer huge stocks from such parts to distressed areas.