Global Food Security 15 (2017) 77–84

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Global Food Security

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gfs

The bumpy road from food to nutrition security – Slow evolution of India's T
food policy
⁎
Prabhu Pingali , Bhaskar Mittra, Andaleeb Rahman
Tata Cornell Institute (TCI), Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Food Policy, in much of Asia, has been slow to transition from its historic focus on staple grain self-sufficiency to
Nutrition a more integrated approach to nutrition security. Research and policy discussions continue to focus on hunger
Food security and calorie deficiency rather than on the need for a balanced diets to address chronic micronutrient malnutrition
Political economy and the emerging problems of over weight and obesity. Social welfare schemes aimed at improving nutrition also
Policy
focus on ensuring calorie sufficiency, neglecting quality and diversity of diets and behavioral change towards
Staple grains
Diet diversity
better nutrition. This paper provides a detailed review of the evolution of food policy in India and a way forward
Asia in the transition towards nutrition security.
India

1. Introduction overweight and obesity (Gómez et al., 2013; Meenakshi, 2016).

India's food policy attempts to ensure that agriculture is remunera-
Despite increases in agricultural productivity and overall food tive and farm prices are stable through assured minimum support prices
production, high levels of undernutrition in its multiple forms continue (MSP) to farmers while at the same time ensuring subsidized food
to persist across the developing world. Effectiveness of agricultural access for poor consumers through the Public Distribution System
policies for improved nutritional outcomes in a particular country, (PDS). Decoupling the government's consumer welfare objectives from
depends on the importance of agriculture in the overall economy, producer protection objectives lies at the heart of food policy reforms
specific nutritional challenges in the country and the stage of structural that are urgently needed in India. The twin objectives of a remunerative
transformation (Pingali et al., 2015). Countries in the Asia have used farm price and low consumer prices have considerable political
modernization of agricultural systems as a pathway for income growth economy ramifications. Open ended procurement at the MSP has led
and structural transformation of the economy. The Green Revolution to the creation of a “farmer lobby” mainly in the higher producing
(GR) led to greater production of staple food crops – rice and wheat - states of Punjab and Haryana.1 This lobby has been successful in
and kick started economic growth in much of Asia (Pingali, 2012). garnering significant influence in policy making in the name of
However, the strategy of promoting staple crop productivity inadver- promoting the “peasant cause” (Krishnaji, 1990). Ramaswami and
tently resulted in the crowding out of traditional micronutrient-rich Murugkar (2015) argue that the government has always taken a “play
food crops, such as coarse grains, millets and pulses from areas in which it safe” stand in such matters given the electoral influence of the farm
they were historically grown (Pingali, 2012; Pingali and Sunder, 2017). lobby. Critics of food and agricultural policies have argued that as long
While the historic success of staple grain productivity growth as the “in-kind” food transfer program through PDS remains in place,
resulted in ensuring adequate quantities of staple food, such as rice procurement and MSP has to continue for its support (Kotwal, 2011).
and wheat, and in defeating the specter of famine and hunger in Asia, However, moving away from the current sub-optimal system towards a
micronutrient malnutrition continues to persist. There is a growing more efficient system, such as cash based transfers, is also beset with
disconnect, common across the developing world but particularly the same set of problems in terms of mode of transfer, identifying the
glaring in India, between food policy and contemporary nutritional beneficiaries and the preferences of the targeted population (Khera,
challenges. Food Policy continues to be focused on calorie availability 2014).
and has been slow to respond to the persistent problem of micronutrient Although this paper focuses on India, the evolution of food policy
malnutrition and child stunting, as well as, the emerging challenges of from its current staple grain focus to one that addresses the broader

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Pingali).
1
Open ended procurement means the government is committed to purchasing any amount of grain through its procurement operations at the announced MSP.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2017.05.002
Received 25 December 2016; Received in revised form 9 April 2017; Accepted 8 May 2017
2211-9124/ © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
P. Pingali et al. Global Food Security 15 (2017) 77–84

concerns of nutrition security is a challenge faced across Asia. The next also led to a decline in food prices for consumers. Technological
section of the paper argues that Indian food policy has been slow to advancement, food self-sufficiency and rising income through the GR
make the transition from a focus on food grain self sufficiency to one of ushered India and other countries in Asia onto a path of agricultural
promoting a nutritionally balanced food system. Part of the reason for modernization and structural transformation (Hazell et al., 1991;
the slowness is that the paradigm of food security is still based on Pingali, 2012). Rising income also lead to a greater demand for non-
hunger alleviation through the provision of a staple food and calorie staples such as vegetables, fish and meat as the consumption of staples
rich diet. Policy fixation with staple grains has put a limit to the ability comes down in accordance with the Bennet's law. This is evident in
of agriculture to diversify into other crops in response to growing India as empirical studies suggest a dietary transition with consumption
market demand. The transition from a staple grains based food policy demand moving away from staple crops towards a more diversified and
has also been constrained by political economy factors discussed above. higher quality diet (Pingali, 2006).
Even programs that had health and education objectives, such as the While there was a secular decline in the price, as well as, seasonal
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the Mid-Day Meal variation in the price of staple grain crops, the relative price levels of
Scheme (MDMS) have morphed into conduits for the provision of other nutritious food, such as pulses, fruit and vegetables have not come
subsidized grain. Hence the “bumpy road” in the evolution to a policy down commensurately (Rahman, 2012). The staple grain supply
that focuses on improved nutrition outcomes. The third section of the approach through GR did lead to an increase in calorie availability,
paper presents a detailed set of steps necessary for transitioning from but diversity in the food system suffered (Headey et al., 2012; Thow
the current food policy to one that promotes nutrition security. et al., 2016). High relative price differences between staples and non-
Concluding remarks are provided in te final section. staples impeded the extent of diet diversification, especially for the
poor. For example, the increasing price of legumes has been associated
2. Food Policy evolution: from national self-sufficiency to with a consequent decline in pulse consumption across all income
improved individual access groups (Kataki, 2002). Hence, while the GR was very successful in
addressing calorie sufficiency, it failed to address micronutrient mal-
Food Policy in India has been centered on calorie consumption as nutrition, the problem of “hidden hunger” and dietary quality.
the primary means of achieving food security. Prior to 1970's, staple Despite the relative high price differentials, the supply responsive-
food availability and price stability were major concerns which led to ness has been low for non-staple crops and livestock products. Fig. 1
an emphasis on self-sufficiency in food grain production. Large scale shows the temporal decline in the per capita availability of coarse
productivity gains and self-sufficiency in food grain production through cereals and pulses. The persistence of GR era policies targeted towards
the Green Revolution (GR) subsequently led to a shift in focus towards staple grains hampers farmer incentives for the diversification of food
ensuring food access at the household level (Radhakrishna, 2005). To production systems. Poorly developed markets for non-staples is also an
achieve this policy objective, procurement of food grains from farmers important reason for the lower growth in their supply (Pingali, 2015).
at assured Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and their distribution at While government parastatals have focused on the procurement of
subsidized prices to poor consumers through the Public Distribution staples, non-staple food supply depends largely on private sector
System (PDS) have been the operational tools. Over time a symbiotic investments in the agricultural markets and value chains, which
relationship evolved between food grain producers, especially in high continue to be low. Creating a “level policy playing field” that corrects
productive areas, such as Punjab and Haryana, the parastatals respon- the historical bias in favor of staple crops would improve incentives for
sible for grain procurement and poor consumers who benefitted from diversification of production into non-staple foods. That however
the access to subsidized grain. However, this nexus has also been the continues to be THE challenge facing India's food policy.
cause of much of the policy failures in shifting the focus from staple
grain sufficiency to promoting a food system that provides balanced
nutrition. In fact, Ganesh-Kumar et al. (2007) have said that the policy 2.2. Addressing food access through the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS)
of food grain self-sufficiency as a means of achieving food security has
“outlived its usefulness”. With achievement of self-sufficiency in staple food crops at the
national level, policy orientation moved towards ensuring food access
2.1. The Green Revolution strategy of staple grain self sufficiency at the household level (Radhakrishna, 2006). Public Distribution
System (PDS), Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the
In the early years after independence, India was a food deficient Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) are the three main pillars of the food
country with frequent droughts and famines. Though India was based assistance programs in the country. According to an estimate by
primarily an agrarian economy at that time, agricultural productivity Narayanan and Gerber (2015), the central government's allocations to
was low and food grains (rice, wheat, millets, maize and barely) the ICDS, MDMS, PDS and Mahatma Gandhi National Employment
contributed to 75% of the total cropped area (Chakravarti, 1973). In Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) constitutes to about 1.7% of the Gross
1966-67, high yielding varieties of rice and wheat were introduced in Domestic Product (GDP).2 Collectively, the total budgetary allocations
India together with massive public investment in agricultural research in terms of proportions are quite small when compared to other low and
and development. Improved GR seed varieties, along with investments middle income countries.
in irrigation, promotion of fertilizers and pesticides led to massive gains Under the PDS, rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene are provided to the
in agricultural productivity (Janaiah et al., 2005; Pingali, 2012). consumers through a chain of Fair Price Shops (FPS) in the country.
Annual per-capita availability of food grains increased from around Although in most states the focus is primarily on staple grain access.
140 kg, in 1950s to more than 160 kg, in the 2000s (Fig. 1). However, Staple grains procured by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from
the GR crowded out the production of other nutrient-rich food crops farmers in high productive environments, such as Punjab, are distrib-
such as coarse cereals and pulses, from their traditional production uted through PDS outlets known as the Fair Price Shops (FPS) across the
environments (Kataki, 2002; Pingali et al., 2015). This was particularly country. The PDS was considered a failure in terms of its coverage and
true in the Indo-Gangetic plains which account for over 12 million escalating fiscal costs (Jha and Ramaswami, 2010; Ramaswami, 2002).
hectares of intensively cultivated land commonly referred to as the
“food bowl of India”. Punjab and Haryana which constitute a bulk of 2
We are not discussing MGNREGA here because that is an employment program.
the staple crop production zone, contribute around 84% and 54% of the Though MGNREGA has potential impact on nutrition, we chose to ignore this for the
total wheat and rice in the country (Singh and Sidhu, 2014). present study since we are focusing on food based assistance schemes in this paper. For
The GR not only benefited producers through rise in production, but details, please refer to Narayanan and Gerber (2015).

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P. Pingali et al. Global Food Security 15 (2017) 77–84

Fig. 1. Aniual per-capita availability of food grains (in kgs.).

However, since 2005 there has been a revival of PDS with expansion in towards subsidized wheat from PDS. Similarly, Desai and Vanneman
coverage and reduction in leakages and targeting errors (Dreze and (2014) find that access to PDS increases the availability of cereals, but
Khera, 2015; , 2011b) famously referred to as “new style PDS” by Dreze has no effect on the consumption of other micro-nutrient rich foods.
and Sen (2013). PDS through its focus on the staple crop continues to emphasize calorie
PDS initially started as an urban food security program for the adequacy rather than ensuring access to balanced diets for the poor.
industrial towns during the World War II. It expanded into rural areas, Prospects for further reforms to the PDS in order to make it more
particularly in states with staple grain deficits as green revolution nutrition sensitive will be discussed later in the paper.
production surpluses emerged in the 1970s (Mooij, 1998). Much of the
expansion in PDS was aimed at supporting rice and wheat growing 2.3. Women and child health and education programs morph into calorie
farmers through procurement at assured prices, benefiting the politi- supply schemes
cally important kulak lobby comprising of farmers from the major rice-
wheat producing regions of the country (Ashok Mitra, 1977; Tyagi, Together with PDS which was aimed at controlling the prevalence
1979; Varshney, 1998). Recent improvements in the PDS came about of hunger, the other two major food based assistance programs have
through increased state government involvement in program manage- been the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the Mid-
ment, greater participation by stakeholders and citizens, and through Day Meal Scheme (MDMS). ICDS was launched in 1975 to provide
greater information availability that allowed for increased transparency balanced nutrition for children under six years of age and for pregnant
in running PDS operations (Sekher et al., 2017).3 The state governments and lactating mothers.5 However, mid-term appraisal of the Govern-
also realized the importance of popular programs in gaining electoral ment of India's 11th 5-year Plan (2007–2012) raised serious questions
strength and hence put in extra effort in ensuring better reach and on the effectiveness of ICDS in reducing child nutrition despite being in
performance of PDS (, 2011b). States which are performing better on place for 34 years (Balarajan and Reich, 2016). MDMS was introduced
the PDS, are those which have been more inclusive in terms of the in 1995 as a “National Program for Nutritional Support for Primary
targeted population for the scheme.4 Strong political support from the Education" and was renamed later. It aimed to address classroom hunger
farm lobby in the high productive states, combined with populist for school-going children between the age of 6–14. We argue here that
support in the deficit states, ensures that the PDS will not be dismantled similar to PDS, the ICDS and MDMS were also merely staple grain based
anytime soon. safety nets which benefited from the procurement of staples through
Where it has been successful, the PDS has helped to ensure that the the parastatals and did not allow the food provisions to vary much by
problem of hunger is limited, but its nutritional impacts are unclear. local tastes, preferences and adequate nutritional requirements. Hence,
Studies which focused on the period before the recent PDS revival find they did little to address the problem of malnutrition through improved
that PDS did not have an impact on overall calorie intake (Kaushal and access to a more balanced diet. Although more recent reforms seem to
Muchomba, 2015; Kochar, 2005). In contrast, some recent evaluations be moving the programs more explicitly towards nutrition outcomes,
of PDS find that expanded coverage of PDS not only increased calorie such as reductions in maternal malnutrition, and child stunting.
intake, but also improved dietary diversity through income effects ICDS was launched as an experiment for integrated nutrition for
(Kaul, 2013; Kishore and Chakrabarti, 2015; Krishnamurthy et al., children under six years of age and for pregnant and lactating mothers.
2014; Rahman, 2016). However, other studies raise concerns about the Lack of food was assumed to be the major driver of malnutrition and
impact of the PDS on diet quality, especially the micro-nutrient hence, ICDS was merely focused on providing food supplementation for
composition of the diet. For example, (Khera, 2011a) finds that house- children from 6 months to 6 years old, in addition to some take home
holds substitute away from more nutritionally superior coarse cereals rations for pregnant and lactating women. It was only in the late 2000s
that a group of researchers and advocates of nutrition came together to
form a coalition and made a unified call for a more integrated and
3
For a detailed discussion on PDS reforms and the improvements in the system, multi-faceted approach to nutrition (Balarajan and Reich 2016). MDMS,
interested readers can refer to (Khera, 2011b; Ramaswami and Murugkar, 2015; Sekher on the other hand, provided an opportunity for increased rates of school
et al., 2017).
4
For example, the leading states Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh have universal
5
PDS coverage while other better performing states like Odisha and Chhattisgarh have had ICDS is implemented through community blocks where anganwadis (child care
a massive overhaul in extending the benefits of PDS to a larger rural population. centers) act as focal points in the delivery of these services.

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enrollment and attendance with potential enhancements in their and Suryanarayana, 2015).
learning outcomes by reducing “classroom hunger” (Dreze and Goyal, NFSA aims to create an umbrella under which the various food
2003; Khera, 2004). Under the scheme, 300 cal and 8–12 g of protein assistance schemes would work in synergy to improve food and
were to be provided to all children every day. MDMS suffers from lack nutritional security through a life-cycle approach. However, these
of adequate infrastructure, sufficient staff, nutritive quality of the food, schemes seem to be working in silos without much coordination to
smooth and timely payments, accountability mechanisms, especially in date. The NFSA has not been able to break from the traditional farm
the poorer performing states like Bihar and Rajasthan (Khera, 2013). lobby and populist political control of food policy and hence the
Though MDMS was launched in 1995, it came to be implemented prospects for it to successfully address nutrition security beyond calorie
across all the states of India only in 2001, when the Supreme Court sufficiency are limited.
made it mandatory for states to provide “cooked meals” to all primary
school children. Similarly, major changes in the ICDS were brought 3. Redesigning food policy for nutrition security
about through the advocacies by “Right to Food" group and active
involvement of the Supreme Court. It led to an increase in the number This section presents the main components of a policy redesign in
of anganwadis, especially in the underserved areas, supplementary order to move from a traditional focus on staple grain self sufficiency to
nutrition through ICDS was made universal from a targeted one, almost addressing a broader set of nutrition objectives. A nutrition security
fourfold increase in the budgets between 2004 and 2008 and a policy policy agenda improves the affordability and access to a diet that is
directive to provide hot cooked meals (Biswas and Verma, 2009). Since balanced in terms of energy, protein, micronutrient and vitamin rich
then, ICDS has expanded on a large scale and covered almost 67% of the food. A nutrition security policy focuses on the persistent problem of
total children under the age of 6 years across India in 2013.6 micronutrient malnutrition and child stunting, as well as, the emerging
We have a limited understanding on whether these food assistance challenges of overweight and obesity. While this section stresses the
programs resulted in improved nutrition (Pingali and Rao, 2017). need for a policy that promotes a balanced and nutritious food system,
Studies looking at ICDS before 2000s, found that it was ineffective we don’t mean to underplay the continued importance of investing in
with regressive program placements (Lokshin et al., 2005). Banik staple grain productivity. The key is to move away from the current
(2016) claims that the focusing solely on staple crops as food assistance almost “exclusive” focus on staples towards a more broad based and
through ICDS has been one of the major reasons why ICDS had no effect balanced food system.
on malnutrition. In subsequent years, however, ICDS has had an
appreciable effect on reducing malnutrition, especially the girl child 3.1. Need to look beyond calories
(Jain, 2015).
While there is a large body of work which shows that MDMS has led Despite a clear understanding in the nutrition and public health
to an increase in school enrollment and attendance rates (Afridi, 2011; community that absence of hunger does not mean better nutrition,
Bonds, 2012; Drèze and Kingdon, 2001; Jayaraman and Simroth, 2015), policy debates and political discourse continue to use hunger and
there is little empirical work on the role of MDMS in improving undernutrition interchangeably with malnutrition. This has led to a
nutritional outcomes. Afridi (2010) finds that daily nutrient intake of sustained push towards the provision of subsidized staple cereals
children increases substantially if they participate in the MDMS. Singh (which are calorie rich) in the PDS and other safety net programs.
et al. (2014) show that MDMS acts as a safety net for children and Though NFSA provides a window of opportunity to change the
compensates them for early life droughts faced through an improve- narrative by allowing for the introduction millets and pulses in the
ment in their nutritional outcomes as measured through weight by age PDS, however its supply side implications together with the budgetary
or height by age. Using surveys in some of the villages of East India, requirements need careful thinking. Against a declining trend in the
Mittal and Meenakshi (2015) find 11% points and 6% points decline in consumption of calories and changing dietary practices across the entire
the prevalence of underweight children who benefited from ICDS. population distribution, it is not hard to argue that a focus on calories
alone is a misplaced one. Millets are rich source of micro-nutrients like
minerals and B-complex vitamins (Gavaravarapu and Nair, 2014),
2.4. National Food Security Act, 2013 – does it move beyond calorie while pulses are a relatively cheaper source of protein (Roy et al.,
sufficiency? 2016). From the farmer's perspective, small millets are more resilient to
climate variability than most crops (DeFries et al., 2016). Consumption
2013 was a watershed moment in India's food policy with the of these nutrient rich items needs to be promoted given high levels of
National Food Security Act (NFSA) being passed in the parliament. micronutrient deficiency in the country. In a pioneering effort, the
NFSA provides legal entitlement to 75% of the rural and 50% of the Chhattisgarh State government introduced its own version of the food
urban population to receive a minimum of 5 kg. of foodgrains every security act even before the NFSA. It included the provisions for pulses
month at highly subsidized prices.7 NFSA also has provisions for and iodized salt in addition to rice and wheat which are usually
nutritional support to pregnant women and lactating mothers who provided under the PDS.
are entitled to receive meals during pregnancy and up to six months
after the child birth for free and associated maternity benefit of not less 3.2. Life cycle approach to nutrition
than Rs. 6000. Further, NFSA mandates nutritional support to children
in the age group of 6 months to fourteen years, free of cost. PDS is Problems of malnutrition such as wasting and stunting set in early in
expected to be the nodal channel for implementing the NFSA which life even during pregnancy, and could persist through the life of an
would expand its coverage by approximately 15–20 million from the individual. Hence, nutrition policy needs to take a life-cycle approach
current 884 million beneficiaries. NFSA's focus on staple grains and its (Rai et al., 2014). Key interventions in early stages of the life cycle such
reliance on outdated calorie norms without much focus on micronu- as nutritional supplements for women during their adolescence,
trient consumption and diet diversity makes it unlikely that it will pregnancy and lactation together with early childhood nutrition inter-
successfully address the problem of “hidden malnutrition” (de Brauw ventions for children could play a major role in reducing overall
malnutrition. While the ICDS was designed with a life cycle approach,
6 it operationally evolved into a food safety net program. Similarly, the
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=101788.
7
Under the Act, eligible households will be entitled to food grain at the subsidized
NFSA purports to promote a life cycle approach but programmatic
price not exceeding Rs. 3 (or USD 0.05) per of rice, Rs. 2 per (or USD 0.03) kg of wheat elements for making it one seem to be lacking (Rai et al., 2014). Better
and Re. 1 (or USD 0.02) per kg of coarse grain like millets (Government of India, 2013). access to family planning, greater women's role in household decision

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making, improved child care and nutrition practices, access to clean country which has higher levels of rainfall. Recent initiative such as the
water and improved sanitation, and a more nutritious food system that Bringing Green Revolution of Eastern India (BGREI) would help upgrade
is affordable to the poor are all essential components of a life cycle agriculture in these states.9
approach to improved nutrition. While the NFSA has these aspects The Report of the High Level Committee on Reorienting the Role and
covered, policy focus and the ensuing debate seems to miss this nuance. Restructuring of Food Corporation of India proposes a move towards the
eastern states (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam) for much
3.3. 3.3 Renewed focus on agriculture with an emphasis on diversification of the procurement under MSP (Kumar, 2015).10 It is expected that
towards more nutritious crops and livestock products procurement from these states would help induce agriculture lead
growth in this traditionally lagging region of the country. However,
One of the critical challenges for agricultural policy is to correct the there is a caveat that the eastern states neither have surplus foodgrain
historical bias that incentivizes only rice and wheat production and production, nor do they have favorable adequate access to input and
discourages diversification into other high value crops. Pingali (2015) credit, which are essential for rapid productive gains (Banerjee, 2011).
calls for a “crop-neutral” agricultural policy, one that creates a level BGREI scheme has succeeded to some extent in improving rice
playing field which allows farmers to respond to market signals, rather productivity in Odisha as shown by Haldar and Gopalan (2017),
than a policy that is biased towards a particular set of crops. however, given current technologies, the competitiveness of these
Diversification of production is useful not only for overall food states with the GR states in terms of enhancing staple grain production
production but in reducing poverty as well (Birthal et al., 2015). is not clear. They could however become competitive with respect to
Promoting a “crop-neutral” policy with adequate market infrastructure, non-staples, such as pulses and coarse cereals.
credit facilities and input availability would go a long way in allowing
smallholder farmers to respond to the greater demand for non-staples.
Promotion of nutritious crops through kitchen gardens and through the 3.6. In-kind food program or a cash transfer scheme?
diversification of production system towards fruits and vegetables,
livestock and aquaculture could lead to improved nutrition outcomes One of the most polarizing policy debates in India during the last
(Pandey et al., 2016). two decades has been on whether PDS should move from an in-kind
food transfer program to a cash based one of an equivalent amount. The
3.4. Connect smallholders to value chains for horticulture & livestock call for a move to cash based transfers is on account of inefficiencies in
products the PDS and the burgeoning cost of food subsidy through procurement
of rice and wheat from farmers.11 As we discussed earlier, there is some
Enhancing farmers’ ability to diversify production systems would evidence that recent improvements in the PDS have led to a more
require high levels of public and private sector investment in transpor- diversified diet as households are using the increase in consumer price
tation, storage, and market development. Investments are also required subsidy on staples to purchase non-cereal food products. However,
to reduce transactions costs for smallholder integration into non-staple Balasubramanian (2015) argues that in-kind subsidy is no different
food markets. Diversifying diets to include protein and micronutrient- from a cash transfer scheme as the marginal propensity to consume
rich food could provide new opportunities for agriculture-led growth cereals out of PDS subsidy is almost zero. In terms of elasticity, Kaul
for smallholder farmers. Diversification of crops has been found to have (2013) also finds that calorie elasticity with respect to PDS subsidy is
a positive impact on reduction in poverty as well as dietary diversity much smaller at 0.14, compared to 0.4 for overall calorie-expenditure
(Birthal et al., 2015; Priya et al., 2012). Public policies aimed at elasticity. These results could potentially make a case for cash transfers
creating an “enabling environment” that includes institutions that to replace the existing in-kind PDS as households can have greater
encourage private sector investment lead to new market opportunities freedom to purchase the kind of food they would like. However, it has
for farmers and thereby promote diversification (Qureshi et al., 2015). also been argued that replacing food with cash could potentially lead to
Market development investments include both connective infrastruc- wasteful spending on intoxicants such as alcohol undermining house-
ture (paved roads, telecommunication networks, distribution networks) hold-level food security. Gangopadhyay et al. (2015) have tried to
and mediating infrastructure (credit sources, credit rating agencies, counter argue this line of reasoning. Using a randomised controlled trial
property titles, and other legal and regulatory institutions that can
depersonalize exchange transactions and make assets fungible). More- 8
Punjab requires about 5337l of water from irrigation to produce one kg of rice. As
over, policies that succeed in creating such an enabling environment for opposed to this, the irrigation requirement is just 2605l for every kg of rice in West
agriculture may improve equity by including those among the rural Bengal. The report further suggests that paddy farmers in Assam, Bihar and Odisha —
poor who are less likely to have access to nonfarm employment, such as besides Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh — are also more water-efficient relative to their
Punjab and Haryana counterparts.
women farmers, and landless labor in non-staple food markets and 9
Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, eastern Uttar Pradesh and West
distribution chains (Joshi et al., 2004). Finally, policy investments in Bengal were a part of BGREI which was initiated in 2011–12. In 2014–15 an allocation of
market information technologies, product standardization, and food USD 200 million was made for work in 121 out of the 183 districts in these states with the
safety regulations can build consumer trust, identify new market clear objective of technology upgradation in wheat and rice, improvements in assets and
demands, and provide meaningful opportunities for farmer response. market linkages. In 2014–15 an allocation of USD 200 million was made for work in 121
out of the 183 districts in these states with the clear objective of technology upgradation
in wheat and rice, improvements in assets and market linkages.
3.5. Focus on agricultural growth in Eastern India 10
With respect to procurement, Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh contributed to
68.35%, 50% and 71% of their rice production to the PDS program in 2011–12.
Success of the NFSA relies on increased food production in back- Procurement from the other rice producing states such as West Bengal for the same year
ward regions of the country (Saxena, 2012). Punjab and Haryana was only 12.5% of its total production. As grain procurement from West Bengal came
down, a collateral damage has been closing down of a large number of rice mills in the
benefited from the initial wave of green revolution in the 1970s and
state leading to loss of jobs. The skewed nature of grain procurement underscores our
1980s, and the affluence seen in these regions today can be partially point of focusing on the eastern India for food.
attributed to the same. However, these states may be reaching an 11
PDS is one of the most expensive social support program in India with close to 1% of
ecological carrying capacity for further productivity gains. A recent the country's GDP being spent on the same. Back of the envelope calculations suggest that
report by The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) only 30% of the food subsidy gets transferred to the people. The rest comprises of the
costs of illegal diversions of foodgrains (43%) operational costs (28%) (Kotwal and
states that the traditionally rice-wheat growing regions require much Ramaswami, 2014). For a detailed discussion on costs of PDS with NFSA being in place
more water than the eastern states.8 It is time for agricultural policy to now, readers can refer to Chakrabarti, Kishore, & Roy (2016); Mishra (2013) and Sinha
re-orient its focus towards productivity gains in the Eastern part of the (2013).

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in Delhi, they show that cash transfers in place of in-kind food subsidy salt, rice and milk fortification. The NFSA allows for provision of
do not affect food security. Khera (2014) contributes to the cash vs. food fortified wheat flour available through the PDS program. Rapid release
debate, by arguing that the“one-size-fits-all” approach may not work. and dissemination of all the biofortified crops should be encouraged as
Local context such as the state of economic and social development an additional tool for promoting a more nutrition-sensitive food system.
needs to be taken into account while taking sides in this debate. Using a Procurement of biofortified pearl millet, rice and wheat for the PDS
survey of over 1200 rural households in nine Indian states, she argues systems would give these crops a rapid boost in terms of their scaling
that in societies with high levels of poverty, poorly developed credit up, while fulfilling the iron and zinc requirements at a population level.
and factor and product markets, paternalism as a cultural norm, and
widespread inequality, cash may not ensure the kind of protection
3.8. Inter-sectoral and inter-departmental convergence on nutritional goals
which food transfers do for a household to maintain their food security.
She finds that in regions where the PDS is well functioning, people
There is a lack of focus on nutrition in the various programs
preferred food over cash.
initiated by the ministries of agriculture, and the food and public
Also, the argument that supply of staple grains through PDS has no
distribution schemes. The supply-side focus of nutrition policy leads to
effect on overall grains consumption needs more scrutiny. Rahman
competing priorities across various food, economic and agricultural
(2015) estimates the degree of substitution between rice from PDS and
departments leading to a policy “inertia'' which results in a continuation
the open market for Tamil Nadu where PDS entitlements are universal
of the status quo of a calorie focused policy stance (Thow et al., 2016).
and rice is provided for free upto a certain quota. He finds that an
Investments in health, sanitation, agriculture, empowering women
increase in the overall household consumption of rice on account of
together with food and nutrition programs require inter-departmental
PDS consumption. This suggests that households not only use the
coordination, otherwise all nutrition related investments would be
income gain to purchase other food items but also rice from the open
undermined (Haddad, 2011). The convergence of various schemes such
market. Hence, PDS subsidy may not be perfectly equivalent to an
as ICDS with national Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Total
income transfer. Hence, while the jury is still out on whether India has
Sanitation Campaign (TSC) exists only as proposals without much
the wherewithal to move towards a cash transfer based program, it is to
action (Mohmand, 2012; Thow et al., 2016). Lack of coordination
be expected that the politically important “farm lobby” would contest
between the various departments have often been cited as the reason
such a move given their vested interests in the continuance of the
for slow progress on malnutrition. Nutrition as a common objective, in
procurement based system.
our view could be a very effective means for focus and convergence
since it cuts across all relevant departments. For instance, access to
3.7. Introduction of pulses, millets and fortified crops in the PDS
water, quality of sanitation and agricultural production are all crucial
for reducing malnutrition. Hence, better nutrition as the common policy
While the debate on having PDS or replacing it with cash needs to
agenda provides these disparate programs a better operating framework
be had, there is no denying the fact that nutritive quality of food
for improved developmental outcomes in the country. Recent successes
provided through the PDS system could be greatly enhanced through
of the state level nutrition missions and the inability of federal attempts
expanding its scope to supply coarse grains and pulses. States like
to bring about an improvement in nutritional status underscores the
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are already providing millets through PDS.
need for decentralization of these programs with flexibility at the lower
The central government can also learn from initiatives by the various
levels of administrative units to tailor it to their particular require-
state governments. For example, Chhattisgarh also provides iodized
ments. That would also make the convergence of these schemes much
salt, black gram and pulses to the poorer households in addition to
easier.
mandatory grains. Similarly, Uttarakhand plans to introduce pulses as
part of the PDS. Subsidized pulses can help diversify diets and enhance
protein consumption. However, the feasibility of expanding the PDS to 3.9. Decoupling consumer welfare objectives from producer protection
include pulses will depend upon the procurement and a remunerative objectives is an urgent policy imperative
MSP for these crops. MSP of millets and pulses are generally low
compared to their market prices (Banerjee, 2011). Moreover, building The successful transition from a staple grain based food security
from scratch a procurement “value chain” for non-staples requires program to a nutrition security program that promotes a nutrition
significant amount of physical, financial and organizational capital. sensitive food system requires a break in the political nexus between the
Also, coarse grains and pulses have not benefited from the R & D farm lobby, the parastatals responsible grain procurement and the
investments that have gone into enhancing the productivity of rice and populist lobby that purports to speak for the poor consumers who
wheat. Resources needed for reducing this R & D gap would be quite benefit from the access to subsidized grain. The political economy
substantial. challenges in breaking this nexus are enormous and not easily
Harvest Plus12 has been working to bio-fortify pearl millet (with surmountable. In the short to medium term, diversification of the
iron and zinc) and rice and wheat (with zinc) in India, and a substantial PDS system to include pulses and coarse cereals could reduce the power
amount of work has already been done to develop lines.13 Food of the farm lobby that had historically supplied rice and wheat to the
fortification (for primary, secondary and tertiary level processed items) government procurement system. Addition of coarse cereals and pulses
could be done with select micronutrients like iron, folic, acid, vitamin would geographically disperse the sources of supply and hence reduce
A, Vitamin B12 etc. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India the lobbying power of farmers from one or two states. Also, efforts to
(FSSAI) have already issued necessary guidelines for wheat flour, oil, move from a food to a cash based consumer safety net program could
help delink consumer protection from producer protection. Although in
12
this case one needs to identify compensation mechanisms for producers,
Harvest Plus is an initiative of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural
such as an income transfer program, which once implemented may be
Research (CGIAR) Micronutrients Project with the aim of reducing hidden hunger
through the provision of adequate micronutrients to through the staple foods. difficult to exit out of. Transition to high value agriculture in the high
13
One of the pearl millet lines with twice the amount of iron as the common varieties, potential states, such as Punjab and Haryana, could raise farm incomes
ICTP-8203, was released in 2011-12 and is now been grown by about 50,000 farmers in substantially and thereby compensate for the loss in assured income
select pockets in Maharashtra. Because ICTP was an open pollinated variety and as such from the procurement system. In the long run, structural transformation
had low yields, high iron hybrids were released in 2014. Similarly, six lines of wheat high
in zinc have been released and advance trials and seed development is being carried out
and the exits from agriculture in the high productive states could result
in several locations in north India. Work on rice is in progress and the lines are expected in the decline in the share of income from the procurement system and
for release in 2016–17. hence its political importance.

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P. Pingali et al. Global Food Security 15 (2017) 77–84

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