According to the National Family Health Survey for India, 37.3 per cent of children aged under five years are stunted; 19.5 per cent are wasted; and 33.8 per cent are underweight. Action Against Hunger is one of the few non-governmental organisations in India focusing specifically on maternal and child health, using various nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions. We work mainly on Health and Nutrition, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL). Our multidisciplinary programmes cover Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.

Our teams engage with communities in remote and hard-to reach areas, identifying and addressing nutritional challenges among children. We empower mothers and families with knowledge and awareness, so they can see their children grow up strong, and whole communities prosper.

In 2024, we reached people from 1,312 villages. We screened 66,498 children* under the age of five years for malnutrition, with 9,697 of these children being identified as malnourished and treated. We also reached 51,592 pregnant women and lactating mothers and conducted 98,595 home visits.

This year, we piloted innovative solutions like MAAP, an application that allows mothers and families to independently assess their children’s nutritional status using the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference method. After the success of the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) unit in Cooper Hospital, Mumbai, last year, we expanded KMC units in Baran District Hospital, Rajasthan and Mokhada, Palghar district, Maharashtra this year to improve neonatal care outcomes.

Project Shubharambh was launched in Sanand, Gujarat, and saw increase in awareness of iron-deficiency anemia from 3.3 per cent to an impressive 99.7 per cent. The impact of these efforts underscored the project’s success in transforming health outcomes for adolescent girls in the region.