India

Quick Facts

Population: 1.451 billion
People Facing Hunger: 172.1 million

Our Impact

People Helped Last Year: 150,111
Our Team: 117 employees
Program Start: 2010

The State of Hunger in India

Although food security and the Indian economy are improving, the world’s largest democracy still suffers from high rates of malnutrition. Undernutrition in India is the result of widespread poverty, rapid population growth, pockets of weak governance, poor health systems, and unreliable national indicators. These issues are compounded by the social factors and inequities related to caste, ethnicity, religion, and gender. According to India’s National Family Health Survey, 33.8% of children are underweight.

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How We're Helping in India

Action Against Hunger is one of the few non-governmental organizations in India focusing specifically on maternal and child health. Our programs cover nutrition and health, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and food security. Supporting communities in remote areas is a key priority, and in 2024, we reached people from over 1,300 villages. Our teams screened more than 66,000 children under age five for malnutrition and provided treatment to 9,697 of them. We also run programs to support pregnant women and lactating mothers and conduct thousands of home visits to bring care directly to families.

Action Against Hunger pilots innovative solutions to address malnutrition, including our MAAP application that allows families to independently assess their children’s nutritional status. We also run Kangaroo Mother Care units across three locations to improve neonatal care outcomes and provide awareness training on iron-deficiency anemia to transform health outcomes for adolescent girls.

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A community health worker shows a mother how to measure her child's nutrition status.

10K

Children Treated For Malnutrition

1.3K

Villages Reached With Our Programs

The First 1,000 Days: India

The first 1,000 days of development – from conception to a child's second birthday – are a crucial window of opportunity for long-term, healthy development. By providing nutrition support, clean water, and access to healthcare for both a mother and her child, our teams are ensuring that young children grow up to be strong and resilient.

Community Mobilizer Kavita hosts a cooking demonstration for mothers.

Community Mobilizer Kavita uses her motorbike to go home to home in her community.

Action Against Hunger Community Mobilizers Kavita and Janhvi visit Anjum at home, following up on the supplies and advice they've provided.

Community Mobilizer Foranti leads a group discussion with mothers in her community.

Our teams work with pregnant women and new mothers to prevent iron deficiencies, which could impact the health and development of their child. We also visit families at home to help them learn and improve nutrition and hygiene.

Nutrition & Health

We provide communities with ways to earn their livelihoods and improve nutrition by helping them grow their own vegetable gardens, raise chickens, practice organic farming, and more.

Food Security & Livelihoods

We install taps, promote hand-washing, and train communities in good hygiene practices for eating, cooking, and more.

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

We work with partners to encourage stronger policies on nutrition and greater resources. Wherever possible, we strive amplify the voices of those who are not always heard.

Advocacy