A step towards self-employment: Production and distribution of locally available nutritional value-added goods

Details:

Children belonging to the tribal community of Anaikatti village, Tamil Nadu, are anaemic. An awareness programme on locally available nutrient-rich food and medicinal plants was conducted to improve the health status of these children. Knowledge about the additional benefits of the millets over the cereals was provided, such as millets are rich in antioxidants, low in calories, low glycemic index, gluten-free food, and a good source of various vitamins and minerals; also it is found to be effective in diseases, like anaemia, diabetes and malnutrition. Despite having a higher nutritional value than cereals, millets have a lower utilisation rate than cereals. It is vital to produce value-added goods made from millets, such as snacks, to boost the usage of millet.

"Aim of the program is to self-employ at least 50 women of the tribal community", said Dr A Indulekha.

The programme's purpose is to empower tribal women by assisting them in learning how to produce a variety of nutritious food recipes that they can use to improve their family's health and sell in their local markets.