Top CSR initiatives to combat hunger in India

India is a food surplus country today, standing as the largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices, and the second largest producer of food grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton, sugar, tea, and farmed fish. However, despite being a food surplus country, India is unable to tackle hunger issues and provide a meal to that section of its population that still goes to bed hungry. The reasons include poverty, rapid population growth, weak governance, poor health systems, and social inequities.

Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh have the highest hunger levels in India, according to the State Hunger Index (SHI). These states are in the “alarming” category, with a score of 35 or higher. States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, and Maharashtra also have high levels of hunger.

India ranks 105th out of 127 countries in the Global Hunger Index, which highlights the significance of addressing this pressing issue. India has nearly 195 million undernourished people, one-fourth of the undernourished population of the world, as per the United Nations. In 2024, India’s Global Hunger Index (GHI) score was 27.3, citing hunger as a serious problem. Also, India ranked 105 out of 127 countries in the 2024 GHI. As per United Nations, India wastes 55 kg of food per head, every year.

The Government of India is taking steps to tackle hunger through several schemes. For example, the PM POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to tackle hunger and improve education by enhancing the nutritional status of children in Government and Government-aided schools, and by encouraging regular school attendance among disadvantaged students.

Similarly, corporates operating in the country are also collaborating with non-profit and non-governmental organisations (NGO) by donating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to combat hunger in India. Here is a look into some of the latest and impactful CSR initiatives tackling hunger in India.

Feeding India by Zomato

In January 2019, Zomato and Feeding India (registered as Hunger Heroes) collaborated to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in India. All efforts are concerted towards providing better food to more people. Through targeted interventions for child and maternal malnutrition, the non-profit is working towards bringing large-scale systemic transformation in the nutrition landscape of India. Feeding India serves meals through campaigns such as Poshan to Paathshaala, Feed the Daily Wager, Meals for Migrants etc.

Feeding from Far

Feeding from Far is a unique project that distributes ration kits and food to the most disadvantaged communities. It is a hunger-relief campaign that focuses on bridging the gap between the poverty lines by tackling the root cause of hunger. Feeding From Far came into being in 2020 to provide meals to people who were adversely impacted by the pandemic. The initiative is dedicated to building a solid resource tool to advance the nation’s development sector. Having served 32 lakh meals and counting, the project works towards curbing poverty-induced hunger in the country.

The crowd-funded volunteer-driven campaign identifies community leaders who lead meal packaging and distribution in their local sub-groups, with resource planning and management being spearheaded by the core team. It is mainly being implemented in different parts of Mumbai, such as Govandi, Macchimar Nagar and Dharavi. The primary beneficiaries of the project are the slum-dwellers, especially unemployed and widowed families reeling under the pressure of the financial turbulence created by the pandemic/lockdown.

The project has been a resounding success with the delivery of 4.5 lakh meals during the lockdown and 2 lakh meals in 33 flood-affected areas within 48 hours during the 2021 Chiplun floods through the Feeding From Far community kitchens. The campaign has touched millions of lives and families to date.

Government of India’s Hunger Free Bharat mission

The Restaurant Cricket League (RCL), a unique national cricket tournament supported by Incredible India, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in collaboration with the Adi Bodh Foundation, has launched the “Hunger Free Bharat” mission, a transformative initiative aimed at eradicating hunger and minimizing food waste across the nation.

This mission aligns with the Prime Minister’s idea of Vikshit Bharat 2047 and aids the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by the year 2030, thus making citizens, businesses, and policymakers ensure that no plate goes empty.

Hunger Free Bharat mission aims to bridge the gap between food waste and hunger by creating a sustainable distribution system. This mission is a nationwide movement to build a fairer and more equitable society where nourishment is a right for all. The campaign emphasizes awareness, collaboration, and actionable solutions to combat food waste. By uniting stakeholders from all sectors, Hunger-Free Bharat mission strives to establish an ecosystem that redistributes surplus food efficiently to those in need. Each meal saved and each act of generosity brings India closer to a future free from hunger.

Malabar Group’s CSR programme ‘Hunger-Free World’

‘Hunger-Free World’ is a CSR programme by Malabar Group to provide nutritious daily meals to the needy. The programme aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2 – Zero Hunger. At present the programme is implemented in 37 cities spread across 16 states including Union Territories, apart from a few centres in the Gulf countries. As part of the expansion, the programme will now cover 70 cities in 16 states. Besides, the Group also plans to launch the same programme for school children in the African nation of Zambia known for the largest level of gold mining in the world.

The Hunger Free World programme is executed with the help of the highly recognised social welfare NGO `Thanal – Daya Rehabilitation Trust’. Modern kitchens have been set up in different places to prepare nutritious food in a hygienic environment by skilled chefs. The volunteers of Malabar Group and Thanal identify the needy people in the streets and urban suburbs and bring the food packets to their doorsteps.

Akshaya Chaitanya and Reliance Foundation working to tackle hunger in Mumbai

Akshaya Chaitanya and Reliance Foundation are working towards tackling hunger as vulnerability in Mumbai, by serving food to children in municipal schools, as well as to families of patients in public hospitals of the city. The initiative aims to address the lack of nutrition during formative years of life in underprivileged children. It also hopes to lower the struggles of families of patients from vulnerable sections of the society by making hygienically prepared food available at government hospitals.
Reliance Foundation has been supporting various nutrition initiatives including setting up more than 1 lakh Reliance Nutrition Gardens, which are compact spaces in rural households, where vegetable and fruit can be cultivated. By 2025, Akshaya Chaitanya envisions serving 1 lakh vulnerable adults and children every day in Mumbai.

Swiggy and Robin Hood Army to provide 50 million meals by 2030

Food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy has launched “Swiggy Serves”, a flagship programme aimed at minimizing waste across its value chain and addressing hunger. As part of this campaign, Swiggy announced its inaugural partnership with the Robin Hood Army (RHA), a volunteer-driven organization. Together, they will redistribute surplus food from Swiggy’s restaurant partners to underserved communities.

Through this collaboration, the two organizations have set an ambitious goal of providing 50 million meals by 2030. In the pilot phase, Swiggy Serves-RHA partnership has delivered over 2,000 meals across 33 cities, with more than 126 restaurant partners joining the initiative. Brands like Bikkgane Biryani, Biryani by the Kilo, Dana Choga, Vardhas, Charcoal Eats – Biryani & Beyond, Dabba Garam, House of Biryani, B.Tech Momos Wala, Samosa Singh, Babai Tiffins, Dosa Anna, Urban Tandoor, have signed up to be a part of the Swiggy Serves- RHA initiative.

The Robin Hood Army (RHA) is a volunteer-based, zero-funds organization with thousands of young professionals, retired folks, homemakers, college students as volunteers. These volunteers, called Robins, collect surplus food from restaurants, weddings and events and distribute it to the less fortunate.

inDrive’s Meals on Wheels campaign to tackle hunger in India

Ride hailing platform inDrive has announced Meals on Wheels initiative in India with the aim to tackle hunger by donating approximately 15,000 food boxes in slums and neighbourhoods. The app’s users can express their support for the initiative by simply using the inDrive app to meet their transportation needs. For every second ride a user books through inDrive in these cities, one meal box will be provided to those in need, ensuring that these underprivileged individuals have a fulfilling meal on their plate. The company will deploy 6 dedicated meal cabs to cater to this initiative.

Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2024 raises meals for children and animals

The third edition of the celebrated Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon was hosted in October 2024 which witnessed participation from over 36,000 runners to support the cause of #RunForZeroHunger. Vedanta through its social impact arm, The Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) has pledged to provide one meal for every kilometer run, resulting in raising 10 million meals last year.

In the previous two editions, the contribution of the runners led to the provision of 7 million meals to the children of Nand Ghar, AAF’s flagship Women & Child Development project. In this edition, AAF extended its commitment beyond nourishing children to include animals, recognizing the interconnected health of people, animals, and the environment under the ‘One Health’ approach. This ‘Meals for All’ initiative will benefit animals through AAF’s animal welfare project, The Animal Care Organization (TACO).