Wild food acts as nutrition security to Adivasi women: ISB study

Hyderabad Wild food contributes to Adivasi women’s higher dietary diversity in India and constitutes a substantial contribution to food and nutrition security, reveals a research study. As a part of the study, researchers collected monthly data on diet recall from 570 households across two Adivasi-dominated and forested districts in Jharkhand and West Bengal and found that wild food consumption significantly contributes to women’s diets, particularly during the months of June and July.

Results of the study revealed that women who consumed wild foods had higher average dietary diversity scores (13 per cent and 9 per cent higher in June and July, respectively) and were more likely to consume nutrient-dense, dark green leafy vegetables than those who did not collect wild foods. The research reports that 40 per cent of the women in the study group never met the minimum dietary diversity over the one-year period, thus highlighting the dire need to address poor diets.

Professor Ashwini Chhatre, Co-author of the study & Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business (ISB), said: “Our study has revealed the tip of a massive opportunity iceberg."