We write in response to the commentary by Gupta et al.

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS), led by the University of Nebraska’s Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) (Nebraska-ILIMS), was fittingly launched at this year’s World Food Day with t

Unlike large-acreage government irrigation schemes, small-scale irrigation is typically farmer led. Farmers decide what technologies to use to extract water, be it manual lifting or solar water pumps.

In many low- and lower-middle-income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where mixed crop-livestock farming is widely practiced, livestock keeping provides income, food, nutrition and other benefits for the rural poor.

According to the latest FAO report on the state of food security and nutrition in the world (1), more than 720 million people faced hunger, and around 3 billion people did not have access to a healthy diet.

We hear a growing chorus of warnings from members of the food and nutrition security community about the dire consequences of the war in Ukraine on global rates of hunger and malnutrition.

In a few weeks, the United Nations will host the first international Food Systems Summit.

India has the world’s highest number of undernourished children and the largest school-feeding programme – the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme – but limited evidence is available on the intergenerational impact of the programme.

According to the Food Security Information Network's recent Global Report on Food Crises (2021), Zimbabwe is on the list of the top six countries in the world experiencing a food crisis.

Despite the will, many developing countries lack the resources to deal with a problem that ravages at both the national and individual level. We need smarter, context-specific solutions on nutrition that can catalyze sustainable change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions of social interactions, affecting both the supply and demand for food. These disruptions to jobs, income and food supply magnified and exacerbated existing inequalities.

Data and the building of country-level data-related capacity is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In 2014, the Global Nutrition Report called for a “Nutrition Data Revolution” (IFPRI, 2014).

Public food transfer programmes act as a lifeline for many poor households that might otherwise live with constant food insecurity and the threat of hunger.

India’s Covid-19 mitigation efforts should be to prevent child undernutrition now rather than to treat it later.

In his 2019 book “Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crises and Change”, Jared Diamond starts by interrogating the word ‘crisis’.

While ensuring food and economic security for the poor is obviously a high priority, we cannot ignore the clear linkage between unhealthy diets and the severity of the pandemic.

In Ethiopia, the average person eats just 42kg of fruit and vegetables per year. This is far below the WHO recommendation of 146kg per year. Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals, vital for our body.