INTERNATIONAL DESK: Odisha state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s food security model has transformed Odisha into the pioneer state in India in the domain of food security making it a role model for the world, claimed the state government.

A state government official said Odisha is the third-largest contributor of rice to India’s PDS system. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s food security model has transformed Odisha from a state that used to import rice from other states to make its ends meet in the pre-2000 era into the no 1 ranked state in India in the domain of food security.

As per the “State Ranking Index for National Food Security Act (NFSA)” by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, the Government of India, Odisha has emerged as the top-ranked state in the entire country.

Apart from successfully implementing the National Food Security Programme by providing food grains to 3.24 crore people of Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik government has also successfully more than doubled the production of food grains in Odisha, said the official.

He further mentioned that the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) headquartered at Rome invited Naveen Patnaik to share the transformational progress made by Odisha in strengthening livelihood and food security, with a specific focus on marginalised communities and women.

CM Patnaik delivered an address in the presence of United Nations WFP executive director David Beasley and the leadership team on how over the last two decades, Odisha has been through a transformational journey in the field of food production, food security, livelihoods, disaster management, among many others.

Patnaik shared to this global audience about how Odisha had attained food sufficiency, initiated large-scale growth-related programmes, designed and created climate-resilient livelihoods and nutrition, and focussed on partnerships so that Odisha consistently kept moving towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), added the official. (ANI)