Community-based interventions to address food insecurity and nutritional health in India: a systematic review

Food insecurity and undernutrition remain major challenges in India, significantly impacting growth, development, and public health among vulnerable populations. Community-based interventions (CBIs) have increasingly been recognized as promising strategies to address food insecurity by employing locally adapted, participatory, and multisectoral approaches. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review synthesizing quantitative evidence from peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and August 2025. Eligible studies were conducted in India, focused on CBIs targeting food security and/or nutritional outcomes, and employed RCT, quasi-experimental, or cohort designs. Multiple databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched. Data extraction focused on population, intervention characteristics, food security/nutritional outcomes, duration, and methodological quality. Fifteen studies across 11 states met inclusion criteria. Interventions encompassed nutrition education, agricultural support, food supplementation, income generation, and integrated multisectoral models. Integrated CBIs consistently demonstrated the strongest improvements in dietary diversity, reductions in child stunting (8% to 15%), and declines in anemia prevalence (10% to 28%) compared to singular approaches. Critical elements contributing to success included active community participation, contextual tailoring, and continuous monitoring. Nonetheless, study quality varied, follow-up periods were typically short, and the dimension of food security stability remained the least addressed. Well-designed CBIs meaningfully enhance food security and nutritional health outcomes in India. Future programs should prioritize participatory design, incorporate sustainability metrics, and adopt rigorous evaluation frameworks. Enhanced policy engagement and further research focused on the stability aspect of food security are recommended.