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India–Africa in G21
The inclusion of the African Union under India’s G20 presidency has brought the challenges of the global South to the forefront. India and Africa confront quite similar challenges, including persistent poverty, high population growth and widespread undernourishment. The article explores India’s experience in achieving zero hunger and ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030 to facilitate south-south learning on this complex issue. It finds that access to nutritious food alone cannot address the multidimensional problem of undernutrition in these regions but this requires a multisectoral solution. Investing in women’s higher education and nutritional status can contribute substantially to bringing down malnutrition among children.
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Puja Mehra, senior fellow (consultant), Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) for her comments and editing of this article which was first published as a policy brief.
One of the hallmarks of India’s Group of Twenty (G20) presidency is the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20. The group may now be called G21. By bringing in the African Union in G21, India has ensured that the voice of global South is put firmly upfront. The African Union comprises 55 countries and 1.4 billion people on this planet. Now the new G21 will represent 84% of the global population, bringing it closer to the motto of “One Earth, One Family, One Future.”
India and Africa within the G21 face similar challenges. They both have low per capita income, persistent poverty, and widespread undernourishment, which gets acute with relatively high rates of population growth. Moreover, their economic structure, sectoral composition, and internal heterogeneity, etc, can make the comparison between India and Africa an interesting study for mutual south-south learning.
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