00:00 with me is Mr. David Navarro, who is the member of the SON, Scaling up Nutrition Lead Group
00:07 and Professor of Global Health in Imperial College, London and also winner of the most
00:13 coveted World Food Prize.
00:17 There is another commonality between David and me because he is the first recipient of
00:21 the Global Nutrition Leadership Award and I am the seventh recipient.
00:26 So, congratulations.
00:27 Thank you so much, thank you so much.
00:30 And it has been a great privilege to be with you in Kathmandu in the SON Global Gathering
00:37 and also today in Food System Dialogue.
00:40 And I am very happy and I think India is very happy to hear from you with your prolific
00:47 background and experience.
00:49 I think country will benefit.
00:52 Thank you so much for agreeing for this interview.
00:56 And can you tell me why nutrition is important because you have been working on nutrition
01:02 and food security agenda for decades.
01:06 You have you have travelled all over the world, you also worked in India and you are telling
01:12 that you also worked in my state in Odisha in many districts which is affected by left
01:18 wing extremist travel.
01:19 So, can you tell why nutrition is important?
01:23 Thank you very much indeed.
01:24 Basanti, I started working on issues here in the subcontinent of South East Asia in
01:36 1970, 1978.
01:37 That is a lot of years ago.
01:42 My operations at that time involved me being a child health doctor working in East Nepal
01:52 and then also having responsibilities in South East Asia.
01:57 So actually in the early 1980s I was involved in some child health and nutrition work in
02:04 Orissa, which was me being based in Jagat Singhpur near Cuttack and then also travelling
02:12 to different districts including Phulbani, Kalahandi and Koraput as it used to be called.
02:21 And you know what I discovered is that so many of the children that I would see in clinics
02:28 or in health posts were ill because they were experiencing diseases but they were also often
02:39 undernourished.
02:41 And even at that stage I knew that an undernourished child was more likely to experience severe
02:48 consequences of an illness compared with a well-nourished child.
02:54 I also saw how malnutrition in early years could have a really bad impact on the long-term
03:02 growth of a child, particularly leading to stunted growth, especially if the malnutrition
03:10 occurred very young.
03:12 That stunting was sometimes quite hard to overcome with subsequent treatment leading
03:17 to long-term shortness of growth and that didn't just lead to being short but it also
03:24 meant that organs in the body weren't fully formed and that had implications for the development
03:32 of the adolescent and then the adult.
03:35 So I thought to myself, if I really want to make a difference to the well-being of children
03:41 around the world, I must get involved in nutrition and that's why I started to focus on nutrition
03:50 and over the years I looked for ways to increase emphasis on nutrition.
03:56 I worked for the British government, the United Nations and others and now that's why you
04:02 and I are bonded by our own joint interest in the relationship between illness and nutritional
04:10 status and that's why you have just been awarded this award because of your role in
04:17 raising the profile of nutrition in India and I'm very pleased to be working with you
04:23 given that I've been so concerned about malnutrition among children in this region really since
04:30 I started out in medicine some years ago.
04:33 Very good.
04:34 Good to know about your passion, how you could make your passion as a profession.
04:38 I'm very happy that there is another commonality.
04:41 I also belong to Odisha as I told and also part of undivided Kotak and Jagashimpur is
04:47 part of that.
04:49 So how my motherland could influence your thinking and action, I am very impressed.
04:56 David, you also worked on sustainable development goal agenda.
05:02 You were a special rapporteur to UN Secretary General.
05:07 Can you tell how nutrition can be centre of the development agenda?
05:11 Absolutely.
05:12 These sustainable development goals are part of the sustainable development agenda which
05:20 was agreed by 193 world leaders in September 2015 after a three year negotiation process
05:31 and the principles at the centre of this sustainable development agenda are that it's people centred,
05:40 it's interconnected, it's universal, it calls for integrated action that can be achieved
05:48 best through partnering.
05:51 So there's five principles, people centred, interconnected, universal, calling for integrated
05:58 action and partnering are really at the centre of how we are asked to focus on the sustainable
06:05 development agenda.
06:07 And then there are the 17 goals which truly are covering every aspect of what matters
06:14 for people and the planet.
06:16 Now nutrition which is both a marker of sustainable development and at the same time a very important
06:25 influence on the well-being and potential of the young person especially as they get
06:31 older.
06:32 Nutrition is a really good example of an interconnected issue that actually is relevant to every one
06:40 of the sustainable development goals.
06:43 And the reason why nutrition is so important is that it matters to every single person
06:48 in our world.
06:49 That's currently about 7.6 billion people.
06:53 Well nourished they will perform to their best potential.
06:58 Poorly nourished they will not perform so well.
07:02 And in today's world there are nearly a billion children and young people and some adults
07:11 who are affected by undernutrition and there are more than a billion who are affected by
07:16 overnutrition.
07:18 If you add it together it's at least 2 billion out of the total 7.6 billion who are poorly
07:26 nourished.
07:27 I stress that we have to deal with both ends, the undernourished and the overnourished because
07:34 both of them are affected and suffer as a result of their nutrition problems.
07:40 Clearly for me this really is the most important issue to cover right across the sustainable
07:49 development agenda because without good nutrition humanity will not be well placed to deal with
07:55 the challenges of the future.
07:57 Thank you so much and thank you for your leadership in bringing nutrition in sustainable development
08:04 goal 2 and also placing nutrition along with food security and agriculture.
08:09 This is remarkable.
08:10 Well I can't take credit Basantji.
08:13 I work with many others but I did believe that nutrition ought to be there inside goal
08:21 2 because I think that it really is an issue that is relevant to health, agriculture, social
08:31 and economic development and human rights.
08:35 And because it has that central role in between several different areas, nutrition is there.
08:43 Thank you.
08:44 I'm so glad it's there.
08:45 Thank you so much.
08:46 Thank you so much for your profound humility.
08:48 So much appreciated.
08:50 You spoke about undernutrition and also overnutrition and obesity.
08:56 India has a double burden on malnutrition.
08:59 In fact as per National Family Health Survey the stunting is almost 38% and obesity and
09:07 overweight is almost 20% and in some cases, in some states it's more than 20%.
09:16 Whenever there is a double burden on malnutrition, so people say that food system is broken.
09:22 So what are your messages for India?
09:26 I think something that I'll say to you now straight away is that I'm always a bit scared
09:31 of saying that something is broken when it has been so brilliant for humanity.
09:37 If we look at the world these days, there is plenty of food available for everybody
09:44 with some to spare.
09:46 If we look at today's world, everybody can access a healthy and nutritious diet if they
09:53 can afford it.
09:56 If we look at today's world, we don't have major famines, even though there are periods
10:03 when because of climate change or because of economic or political factors including
10:09 violent conflict, you actually do get communities that are really short of food.
10:14 But we've set up in this world some amazing mechanisms to prevent some of the worst extremes.
10:22 So I'm kind of not saying the food system is broken.
10:27 I am saying that there are problems that need attention at the political level as well as
10:36 at the technical level because if there's enough food for everybody, why isn't everybody
10:41 getting it?
10:43 And so that's why I believe that we need political and professional action to make sure that
10:51 everybody gets the food they need to give them the nutrition they require to achieve
10:56 their potential.
10:57 Very good.
10:58 I think you are reiterating the principles of universalization, principles of equity,
11:04 principles of equality.
11:05 I think that is more important for a country like India where there are multiple deprivations.
11:12 There are social exclusion, geographical exclusion, economic exclusion and policy exclusion.
11:16 I think your message is very good.
11:18 The second message is also very reassuring, Dr. David, that food system is not broken.
11:24 There is a problem.
11:26 I think that is a very reassuring message from a person like you.
11:29 Thank you so much.
11:30 Thank you.
11:31 Thank you.
11:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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