jaipur around 22 districts in rajasthan have been identified as those requiring immediate attention in terms of food security according to the food security atlas of rural rajasthan released jointly by the institute of human development and the united nations world food programme unwfp on friday the atlas further mentions the need of immediate intensive intervention in ten out of these 22 districts to improve food and nutrition securitythe atlas also points out that alarmingly high prevalence of mortality and malnutrition in certain parts of the state barring seven districts the under 5 years mortality rate is over 100 per 1000 much higher than the national average and leaving five districts every second child in rest of the state is underweightthe atlas has analysed data from government sources to identify the most food insecure districts of the state these areas show low harvest low female literacy and belowaverage health indicators the atlas says that targeted intervention is needed in 22 districts including banswara nagaur barmer jalor pali sirohi dholpur jhalawar and baran the atlas was released in jaipur by ramiro lopes deputy executive director of unwfp and professor v s vyas deputy chairman of the state planning board and member of the prime ministers economic advisory council also present were kenro oshidari unwfp regional director for asia terri toyota director government donor relations and wfp india representative mihoko tamamuradoing away with hunger by 2015 as perceived earlier now seems farfetched but it is achievable if we are able to raise it further in the global and political agenda the food security act is a catalyst in this direction but it is a fight that should be able to mobilise the community lopes saidfood security is not just a matter of availability of food but more of the access of households and individuals to sufficient nutrition the nutritional status of an individual is influenced by access to safe drinking water facilities for hygiene and sanitation consequently food security is analysed along the axes of availability access and absorption vyas saidchronic hunger is a thing of the past there are no longer cases of chronic hunger except for a few sporadic ones but there is malnutrition and that is not due to a paucity of resources but due to poor delivery system it is a question of governance accountability and transparency we will have to put a thought on how to improve the delivery system he addedearlier mihoko tamamura said the food security atlas of rural rajasthan is a comprehensive food security information system for the state we are confident this will enable a more rational allocation of resources to the most vulnerable pockets of need thereby improving the food and nutritional security of those who require it the most she saidthough rajasthans performance in the areas of malnutrition and poverty is relatively good there are several districts where the current government schemes need to be intensified to improve irrigation and agricultural productivity female literacy and service delivery which will improve food