42% Of India's Children Stunted: FAO Expert

New Delhi, Dec 15, IRNA -- India housed more hungry people than any other countries, and it is disturbing to note that 42 per cent of India's children were stunted owing to long term food deprivation, a UN official said Thursday. Addressing an International Conference on Sustainable Development and Governance Building, commerce and community in Coimbatore, Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Peter Kenmore, India Country Head, Food and Agriculture Organization United Nations, said India housed more hungry people than any other countries, over two million, about the same as Sub-Sahara Africa, pti reported. Countries like India should have more farmers with small holding as they tended to produce more from less land. Small holders produced 80 per cent of food from eight per cent of land, he claimed. He emphasized the need for optimum utilization of available water so efficiently practiced by the farmers of Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh. An enabling policy environment should provide support for such innovation, he said. The three-day conference, which began yesterday, is being jointly organized by Amrita University and Deakin University, Australia./end