The Development Chamber of Food and Agriculture Trade Association (DeFacto India), on Monday, launched AgHeal™, its flagship national initiative connecting agriculture led growth to India's nutrition and public health outcomes, at a Founding Leadership Dialogue held in New Delhi.
The evening was graced by Rajit Punhani, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), as Chief Guest, alongside Dr. Ashok Dalwai, IAS (Retired), Chairman, DeFacto India, and Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, PhD (Retired), as Special Guest, together with other distinguished dignitaries from government, industry and civil society.
Conceived and led by Shreyasi Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, DeFacto India, AgHeal™ was launched with a simple but urgent premise: that the prosperity of India's farmers and the health of its 1.4 billion citizens are not two separate national priorities, but a single, indivisible one, connected by nutrition.
A Convergence Platform, Not a Conference
The Founding Dialogue brought together an unusually wide coalition under one roof: farmer producer organisations and agricultural cooperatives, food processing industry leaders, startups and venture capital, policymakers and academia, and government institutions, alongside voices from longevity and wellness, mental health, medical technology, food technology and preventive health. Three panel discussions, on the Farmer Economy, the Consumer Economy and the Productivity Economy, anchored a series of fireside conversations that ran through the evening.
“The prosperity of the farmer and the health of the citizen have always been, in my view, a single objective wearing two names,” said Dr. Ashok Dalwai, IAS (Retired), Chairman, DeFacto India. “AgHeal™ is where that single objective finally gets pursued as one.”
“This is a genuinely important initiative,” said Rajit Punhani, Chief Executive Officer, FSSAI, who joined as Chief Guest. “Bringing food safety, agriculture and nutrition onto one platform is exactly the need of the hour. My compliments to DeFacto India for this effort.”
Voices Behind the Movement
The evening drew participation from some of India's most influential voices in food, health and media, including Shraddha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory; Revant Himatsingka, founder of FoodPharmer; and Dr. Sarath Gopalan, President, Nutrition Society of India, among many others who lent not only their presence but their commitment to this cause for the long term.
“Every stakeholder in this room represents 1.4 billion people,” said Shreyasi Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, DeFacto India. “We are building with them, and for the world.”