Every school day, a child shows up hungry. You can change that today

Proper nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood is essential for lifelong health. Maternal malnutrition directly affects a child’s physical and cognitive development, leading to intergenerational challenges.

Through Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), we support children (0–6 years) and pregnant and nursing mothers with essential nutrition and care.

Key Features:

• Nutritious, hygienically prepared meals
• Support for children aged 0–6 years
• Nutritional care for pregnant and lactating mothers
• Community-based nutrition support through AWCs

Impact:

• 150,000+ children receive daily nutritious meals
• 10,000+ pregnant & nursing mothers supported
• Improved child growth and early development
• Reduced risk of intergenerational malnutrition
• Healthier mothers and stronger communities

Breakfast has a positive effect on learning in children in terms of behavior, cognitive development and school performance.

Our Kitchens, starting with Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad are beginning to distribute

Meals Served:

• ~800,000 morning nutrition meals served daily
• Tomato Bhath / Methi Bhath
• Rawa Upma
• Idli and Sambar
• Khichdi
• Sweet / Khara Pongal
• Bisi Bele Bhath

Key Features:

• Supports learning, behavior, and cognitive development

Impact:

• Energizes children for a healthy start to the day
• Improves focus and school performance
• Enables expansion of the feeding program to other locations in India

Hunger remains a major barrier to education for millions of children across India. Many children either stay out of school or attend classes hungry due to lack of access to regular meals, affecting their ability to learn and grow.

Akshaya Patra's hot mid-day meal provided at school helps address classroom hunger, improves concentration, and encourages families to send children to school instead of work.

Key Features:

• Hot, nutritious meals served on every school day
• Nutritionally balanced meals supporting cognitive development
• Supports children’s Right to Food and Right to Education
• Encourages school enrollment and regular attendance
• Acts as economic support by covering at least one daily meal

Impact:

• 2.35+ million school children fed each day
• Improved enrollment, attendance, and academic performance
• Reduced school dropout rates
• Enhanced physical and psychological development
• Promotes socialization and unity through shared meals

The AVSAR Scholarship Program by the Akshaya Patra Foundation provides financial assistance to students pursuing post-secondary education, helping them achieve their academic and career aspirations.

The program addresses high dropout rates after Class 10 caused by financial constraints, especially among students from marginalized communities.

Key Features:

• Financial support for post-secondary education
• Focus on students from government schools
• Support for unprivileged and marginalized communities
• Encourages continuation of education after Class 10

Impact:

• Reduced dropout rates
• Increased access to quality education
• Empowered students to build better career paths
• Positive long-term impact on families and communities

Akshaya Patra has endeavored to utilize its kitchen infrastructure and resources to undertake emergency food assistance during natural disasters to provide nutrition & health support.

Over the years, we have enhanced our execution capabilities for humanitarian efforts through need-based approaches. These include providing freshly cooked food, utilizing our mobile kitchens, setting up temporary kitchens, and distributing food relief kits.

The Problem:

• Emergency food assistance needed during natural disasters
• Need for nutrition and health support in crisis situations
• Food insecurity despite availability of kitchen infrastructure
• Large quantities of edible food going to waste

Our Impact:

• Rescue of edible food that would otherwise be wasted
• Distribution of food to people in need
• Use of fresh meals, mobile kitchens, and temporary kitchens
• Alignment with the National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013
• Contribution towards a sustainable and equitable food system