Improving Supplementary Nutrition for Indian Children in Gujarat Project

Project Overview

The Government of Gujarat, a state in the western part of India, provides supplementary nutrition to beneficiaries comprising children between six months and six years old under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). ICDS is the world’s largest nutrition supplementation program and reaches over 80 million children under age six.

In Gujarat, GAIN funded the World Food Programme (WFP) to assist the Government of Gujarat to provide hygienically packaged high quality and nutrient dense Extruded Fortified Blended Food (EFBF), known as Bal Bhog, for children 6 to 36 months of age enrolled in the ICDS program. Bal Bhog is a pre-cooked, cereal-based supplementary food in powder form fortified with 11 essential micronutrients. Its  formulation was developed by GAIN and WFP . The project worked with the private sector which produced, packaged and transported the food right to the final distribution point (Anganwadi Centre). Private manufacturers were selected through an e-tendering process.

Goal

The goal of this project was to improve the nutritional status of children 6 months to 36 months old. The project aimed to reach 400,000 children 6 to 36 months old in the state of Gujarat.

Impact

The project reached 400,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 36 months in Gujarat. Studies reflect a declining trend in the rate of malnutrition among children benefiting from the program. The Government of Gujarat has now scaled the project to the entire state and is reaching 1.2 million children.

Duration

The project was funded from August 2007 to December 2008. The Government of Gujarat took over the program from there on and has committed to provide fortified blended foods to these children on an ongoing basis.