Written by: Nazrul Haque, Amalendu Jyotishi, Derek Johnson
Child malnutrition continues to be a critical public health challenge in India, reflected in persistently high levels of stunting, wasting, underweight, and anaemia. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019–21), 35.5% of children under five in India are stunted, 19.3% are wasted, and 32.1% are underweight. The situation in Assam closely mirrors the national average, with 35.3% of children stunted, 21.7% wasted, and 32.8% underweight. Assam also records alarmingly high levels of anaemia, affecting 68% of children between six months and five years of age.
Addressing this challenge requires nutrition-sensitive, locally appropriate, and scalable solutions. Small indigenous fish species such as mola (Amblypharyngodon mola), as well as marine small fish, are traditionally consumed in Assam and are rich in essential micronutrients, including calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin A. The 2023–24 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) collected data on fish consumption across India. Assam ranks among the country’s high fish-consuming states. The state’s monthly per capita fish consumption is 603 grams (7th among 36 states and Union Territories), while average monthly expenditure on fish stands at ?142.2 (9th among 36 states and Union Territories).
If distributed effectively, fish can become an affordable and important source of nutrition. State-run programmes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, school mid-day meal programmes, social welfare hostels, government-run orphanages and old-age homes, and urban community canteens provide ideal platforms for delivering nutrient-rich foods to vulnerable and marginalised populations. Processing these nutrient-dense fish into small fish powder offers a cost-effective, culturally acceptable, and scalable intervention that can be seamlessly integrated into existing government feeding programmes.
A State-Supported Fish for Food Initiative
A promising pilot initiative to promote dried small fish as a nutrition intervention was launched in Odisha in 2020 by WorldFish in collaboration with the Women and Child Development Department of the Government of Odisha. The project supplied packaged dried small fish and fish powder to selected Anganwadi centres through the ICDS programme. The pilot was implemented in Kaptipada Block of Mayurbhanj district, where the Scheduled Tribes constitute a substantial proportion of the population.
Fish powder was incorporated into freshly prepared meals for children up to three years of age attending Anganwadis, while packaged dried small fish formed part of the take-home rations provided to pregnant and lactating women.
Although the pilot concluded after a year, it generated several important lessons. First, effective interdepartmental coordination proved essential for successful implementation. Second, the project highlighted the importance of strengthening the entire value chain. Fish-based nutrition interventions should not only reach vulnerable populations but should also generate livelihood opportunities through the procurement, processing, and distribution of dried fish and fish powder, particularly for women. Equally important is ensuring that fish are harvested sustainably, preferably by small-scale fishers. These lessons informed the design of a subsequent pilot project in Assam.
The Pilot Initiative in Assam
A second pilot project involving the use of dried small fish in public food provisioning was implemented in the Boko Block of Kamrup district during 2023–24 by WorldFish in collaboration with the Assam Department of Fisheries and the district administration. The intervention, known as Matsya Paripusti (Fish Nutrition), aimed to improve dietary diversity among children by incorporating dried small fish powder into school meals and Anganwadi nutrition programmes.
The programme covered 55 Anganwadi centres and 43 lower primary schools in Boko Block. This expansion to a significantly larger number of sites represented an important step forward from the Odisha pilot.
Drawing on lessons from Odisha regarding the importance of institutional coordination, the Department of Fisheries worked closely with six other departments, including the Women and Child Development Department, the Education Department, the Mid-Day Meal Programme, and the Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission, among others, to establish an effective multi-stakeholder implementation framework. During the nearly six-month pilot, 265 stakeholders—including teachers, Anganwadi workers, cooks, departmental officials, and field staff—received training.
The programme also expanded upstream within the value chain by establishing a community-led operational partner responsible for fish powder production. This strengthened livelihood security for those involved in processing while simultaneously advancing nutritional objectives.
A key operational partner was Samaria Producer Company Limited, a fish farmer producer company (FPC) based in Boko, Kamrup district. Supported by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the FPC—comprising both men and women from the local community—played a central role in sourcing, processing, and supplying hygienically dried small fish for fish powder production.
By aggregating fish from local farmers and ensuring quality processing, the FPC helped create a decentralised, community-based supply chain linking nutrition interventions with local livelihoods. Procuring fish from local sources ensured the participation of fishers in the local economy as primary suppliers. This created an institutionally viable pathway that simultaneously promotes nutrition security, livelihood security, and ecological sustainability—an essential prerequisite for long-term success.
A rigorous baseline and endline assessment was conducted for both the treatment group (children receiving fish powder) and a control group across selected Anganwadi centres and lower primary schools. The quantitative findings were encouraging.
At baseline, the control group recorded higher average weight, height, and Body Mass Index (BMI). However, by the endline assessment, the treatment group’s average BMI had increased from 16.21 to 16.51, while the control group’s average BMI declined from 18.33 to 17.53. These findings indicate positive improvements in children’s nutritional status.
The impact of the fish powder initiative was evident not only in quantitative indicators but also in the experiences of children, parents, and teachers. Among Anganwadi children receiving fish powder, the prevalence of underweight and stunting declined during the intervention period, while improvements were also observed in weight-for-age indicators. In primary schools, children consuming fish-fortified meals registered modest gains in BMI, suggesting that the inclusion of nutrient-rich fish powder contributed positively to growth and overall nutritional well-being.
What made the intervention particularly noteworthy was its high level of acceptance among children and communities. The fish powder produced by Samaria Producer Company Limited was easily incorporated into existing mid-day meal menus. Cooks mixed it into khichdi, dal, vegetables, and curries, often after lightly sautéing it with onions and spices. The resulting meals retained familiar flavours while providing a substantial nutritional boost.
Teachers and Anganwadi workers reported that children quickly adapted to the new recipes and frequently enjoyed the fish-enriched meals. Members of the producer company recalled that initial concerns about children’s acceptance of the product soon disappeared. As Khalida, the company’s CEO, observed, “The children ate it happily.”
Parents also began noticing positive changes. During community meetings and informal discussions, several mothers reported that their children appeared healthier and more energetic. Some observed visible weight gain, while others noted improvements in appetite, participation in sports and outdoor activities, and reduced frequency of illness. Although these observations remain anecdotal, they reflect the confidence communities developed in the programme and underscore the potential of locally produced fish-based foods to address persistent nutritional challenges.
Key Insights
The pilot clearly demonstrated that fish powder derived from locally available, micronutrient-rich indigenous fish species can serve as an effective, affordable, and culturally acceptable intervention against child malnutrition. Equally important, the involvement of Samaria Producer Company Limited illustrates the potential for building sustainable, community-driven supply chains that simultaneously support nutritional outcomes and rural livelihoods.
Another critical factor that emerged from the field—and arguably the primary driver of the pilot’s success—was the seamless convergence of multiple stakeholders. Seven government departments, together with WorldFish and Samaria Producer Company Limited, worked in close coordination to design and implement the intervention.
This experience reinforces a well-established lesson in development practice: complex challenges such as malnutrition cannot be effectively addressed by a single sector acting in isolation. Rather, they require multisectoral collaboration in which government systems, community institutions, and technical agencies work together, pool resources, and align their efforts toward a shared objective.
Both pilot programmes have produced promising results and, with adequate political and administrative support, could be scaled across multiple states. The inclusion of products derived from small fish in public feeding programmes offers a sustainable pathway to addressing India’s persistently high levels of malnutrition while simultaneously promoting livelihood security and environmental sustainability.
Nazrul Haque and Amalendu Jyotishi are faculty members at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, while Derek Johnson is a faculty member at the University of Manitoba, Canada.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective institutions. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Dried Fish Matters and Reimagining Food Systems projects in conducting the research on which this article is based.