## What is Food Security?
Food is essential for survival, just as air is necessary for breathing. However,
food security encompasses more than simply having two meals a day. It has the
following key dimensions:
1. *Availability of Food:*
- Food production within the country.
- Food imports.
- Stock from previous years stored in government granaries.
2. *Accessibility:*
- Ensures food is within reach of every individual.
3. *Affordability:*
- Individuals must have sufficient financial resources to purchase safe,
nutritious, and adequate food to meet dietary needs.
### Conditions for Ensuring Food Security
Food security is ensured when:
1. Enough food is available for all individuals.
2. All individuals have the capacity to purchase acceptable-quality food.
3. There are no barriers to accessing food.
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## Why is Food Security Important?
1. *For the Poorest Sections of Society:*
- The poorest often experience chronic food insecurity.
2. *During National Disasters and Calamities:*
- Events like earthquakes, droughts, floods, tsunamis, or widespread crop
failures can lead to food shortages.
- Food shortages cause price hikes, making food unaffordable for many.
- Prolonged or widespread food shortages may result in starvation and famine.
### Impact of Calamities on Food Security:
- Natural calamities, such as droughts, reduce foodgrain production, leading to
shortages.
- Food shortages increase prices, making food inaccessible for poorer populations.
- Starvation during severe and prolonged calamities can lead to famine.
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## Famine and Its Consequences
- *Definition of Famine:* A situation characterized by widespread deaths due to
starvation, epidemics caused by consuming contaminated water or decaying food, and
weakened immunity due to prolonged hunger.
- *Example:* The Bengal Famine of 1943:
- Resulted in the deaths of 30 lakh people in Bengal.
- Although such famines have not occurred in India since then, famine-like
conditions still exist in some areas, causing occasional starvation deaths.
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## Modern Challenges to Food Security
1. *Natural Calamities:*
- Droughts, floods, earthquakes, and other disasters reduce food availability
and accessibility.
2. *Pandemics:*
- The COVID-19 pandemic impacted food security by restricting the movement of
people, goods, and services, disrupting economic activity, and limiting access to
food.
1. Who Are Food-Insecure?
Rural Areas:
Landless individuals with little or no land.
Traditional artisans and service providers.
Petty self-employed workers and destitutes
Urban Areas:
Families in ill-paid or casual labor.
Workers engaged in seasonal activities with low wages.
2. Factors Contributing to Food Insecurity
Social Composition:
Vulnerable groups: SCs, STs, and lower sections of OBCs with poor land access or
productivity.
Natural Disasters:
Affected people forced to migrate for work.
Gender and Age:
High malnutrition rates among women, especially pregnant/nursing mothers and
children under 5 years (~11 crore affected as per NHFS 1998–99).
3. Regional Disparities
States with high food insecurity:
Uttar Pradesh (eastern/southeastern), Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.
Common characteristics:
Economically backward regions, tribal/remote areas, disaster-prone regions.
4. Hunger as an Indicator
Types of Hunger:
Chronic Hunger:
Persistent inadequacy in diet due to low income.
Seasonal Hunger:
Linked to cycles of food growing/harvesting (rural areas) or seasonal work
availability (urban areas).
Decline in both seasonal and chronic hunger percentages observed.
