SDGs have a key focus on food by seeking to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”.
The Food Processing Sector has emerged as an important segment of the Indian economy in terms of its contribution to GDP, employment, and investment. The sector provides a boost to farm incomes, reduces massive agri-produce wastage, enables value creation through the manufacture of packaged foods, drives investment in cold chain and storage houses, manages supply-side food inflation, attracts domestic and foreign investment, and contributes to exports, amongst others.
The sector is especially significant for the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and creating non-farm jobs in rural areas, as it provides the vital linkage between industry and agriculture and is of enormous significance for India’s development. With India moving from a position of scarcity to surplus in food production the prospects for increasing processing levels are enormous.
Identifying the opportunity, the CII National Committee on Food Processing is working under a multistakeholder approach with a focused agenda to
Key stakeholders engaged with include Government at the Center and State level, Agri and food industry, MSME, technology and service providers, financiers, and multilateral agencies.