| Sumario: | This study examines how India’s school meal programs can better use local agrobiodiversity to address persistent gaps in nutrition, sustainability, and meal acceptability. It links school-level meal practices with local farm and landscape contexts to analyze how food, production, and procurement systems interact under state-defined but locally implemented menu frameworks. Within this broader analysis, the study documents a participatory crop identification and validation process conducted in Mandla district. Community actors assessed locally available species across agroecological performance, nutrition, farmer experience, and procurement feasibility.
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