Hunger

With humanitarian funding dwindling, critical supplementary feeding programmes risk being scaled back or halted altogether.

Consumer confusion exacerbates the issue. In the US, 6 per cent of waste – 3 billion pounds worth $7 billion – stems from misreading labels like “Sell by” (for retailers) or “Best if used by” (peak quality), prompting premature discards of safe food.

The report calls for the government and industry joining hands to strengthen social protection, enforce labour laws, and support climate adaptation.

The Aswesuma scheme, introduced in 2023, aims to replace a decades-old programme with a new model that ostensibly uses multidimensional deprivation scores rather than just income thresholds.

Passing Gifts, active in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, and Koraput districts, supports rural livelihoods through backyard poultry, goat rearing, and spice value chains.

The MoU, inked by Bangladesh’s DG Food Md Abul Hasanat Humayun Kabir and Joseph K. Sowers from US Wheat Associates, underscores a deepening partnership in food and trade.

Launched in commemoration of the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives 2025, the ‘Seeding Strength’ campaign highlights the transformative role of agricultural cooperatives in India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Nepal.

President Paudel expressed concern over Nepal’s increasing reliance on imported rice and paddy. He underscored the importance of adopting climate-smart technologies and making use of domestic human resources to foster self-reliance in agriculture.