NITI Aayog and WFP Sign Statement of Intent

On 20th December, 2021, NITI Aayog signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

The Statement of Intent

It focuses on strategic and technical collaboration between NITI Aayog and WFP to strengthen climate resilient agriculture for enhanced food and nutrition security in India.
It has the objective of mainstreaming of millets and supporting India to take lead globally in knowledge exchange using the opportunity of 2023 as an International Year of Millets.
It aims at building resilient livelihoods for small-holder farmers and adaptation capacities to climate change and transforming food systems.

Key Activities

Joint development of a compendium of good practices around millets mainstreaming in priority states and development of a scaling up strategy;
Provide technical support for scaling up of millets mainstreaming through intense engagement in select states with support from state governments, Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) and other associated institutions;
Jointly organize a national consultation for line ministries of the Government of India, concerned departments of State governments, select academic institutions and organizations working in the field of millets mainstreaming; and
Support leveraging of India’s expertise to benefit other developing countries for millets mainstreaming by creation of knowledge management platforms and facilitation of knowledge exchange.

Expected Outcomes

The outcomes of the partnership are expected to be realized in the following four phases:

Phase I: Development of a best practice compendium around millet mainstreaming and a scale-up strategy;
Phase II: Support scale-up of millet mainstreaming through knowledge sharing and intense engagement with select states;
Phase III: Leverage India’s expertise to support developing countries for millet mainstreaming; and
Phase IV: Working on building capacities for climate resilient and adaptive livelihood practices.