Dr Soumya Swaminathan MSSRF distributed TAB to Fisherwoman

6000 fisherwomen from 100 coastal villages will benefit from the programme. Five fisherwomen representing the coastal districts of Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore, and Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, and Karaikal in Puducherry, receive Tabs from Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson MSSRF, during the launch of the Women Connect Challenge programme. The M S Swaminathan Research Foundation’s Fish for All Research and Training Centre at Poompuhar is one of the seven winning proposals out of 260 applications to bag the ‘Women Connect Challenge’ Award for 2023 given by Reliance Foundation and USAID. The Poompuhar Centre is developing a range of Information, Communication, Technologies (ICTs) to reduce the gender digital divide among women by enhancing knowledge on digital literacy, post-harvest management, mobility in enterprise development that further contributes to gender equality and women empowerment in fisheries sector. 6000 fisherwomen from 100 coastal villages will benefit from the programme. The Women Connect Challenge is a global call for solutions to improve women’s participation in everyday life by meaningfully changing the ways women access and use technology. It is aimed to bridge the gender digital divide and increase women’s economic empowerment through challenging social and cultural perceptions, developing skills and opportunities, building confidence, growing community advocates, and designing creative women-centric technologies. Ms Sharmila, a fisherwoman from Vanagiri village in Mayiladuthurai district, Tamil Nadu, spoke of how the programme will open up advanced technologies to help her improve her dry fish business. Dr Arabinda Padhee IAS., Principal Secretary – Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha, in his special address said: “The Odisha Millet Mission is an excellent example of how millets can become part of one’s everyday diet.” He also emphasised on millets as a booster of agricultural income for smallholder farmers, especially those engaged in rain-fed farming. Dr Padhee said: “The Odisha government has been working on convergence policies and given the importance of millets in terms of procurement, consumption and health, we have extended the Odisha Millets Mission to another six years.”

Two kgs of Ragi for Nilgiris and Dharmapuri ration card holders

The Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative was launched on April 28, 2023, at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in Chennai to promote Millets and Backyard Kitchen Gardens among students, farmers, and Biodiversity Management Committee Members. Thiru R Sakkarapani, Hon'ble Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection and Price Control, Government of Tamil Nadu, inaugurated the LiFE initiative and emphasized the government's efforts to ensure food and nutritional security. The Government will introduce two kgs of finger millet (Ragi) in the Public Distribution System (PDS) from May 2023, to all ration card holders in Nilgiris and Dharmapuri districts. The government will also plan to include at least one millet-based meal per week in ICDS, mid-day meal, and breakfast schemes. Shri Achalender Reddy IFS (Retd), Chairperson – National Biodiversity Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Government of India, spoke about the nutritional value of millets and highlighted the importance of biological conservation to protect food species, especially millets. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson MSSRF, emphasized the need for balanced diets and awareness programs on food and nutrition to combat undernutrition, obesity, and non-communicable diseases. Other delegates who spoke on the occasion were Dr J Radhakrishnan, Dr B Balaji IFS, and Dr Shekar Kumar Niraj IFS.