Food security in India
- 1. Food security in india and solutions ASHILIENE ROSE FRANCIS Volunteer at BGS Foundation
- 2. WHAT IS FOOD SECURITY? Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Food security is the combination of the following three elements: • Food availability i.e. food must be available in sufficient quantities and on a consistent basis. It considers stock and production in a given area and the capacity to bring in food from elsewhere, through trade or aid. • Food access i.e. people must be able to regularly acquire adequate quantities of food, through purchase, home production, barter, gifts, borrowing or food aid. • Food utilization: Consumed food must have a positive nutritional impact on people. It entails cooking, storage and hygiene practices, individuals health, water and sanitations, feeding and sharing practices within the household.
- 3. NECESSITY OF FOOD SECURITY IN THE NATION • For boosting the agricultural sector. • For having a control on food prices. • For economic growth and job creation leading to poverty reduction • For trade opportunities • For increased global security and stability • For improved health and healthcare
- 4. FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA Food security concerns can be traced back to the experience of the Bengal Famine in 1943 during British colonial rule, during which about 2 million to 3 million people perished due to starvation. The country went through a Green Revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s, enabling it to overcome productivity stagnation and to significantly improve food grain production. It is often criticized for being focused on only two cereals, wheat and rice; being confined to a few resource abundant regions in the northwestern and southern parts of the country that benefited mostly rich farmers. The Green Revolution was followed by the White Revolution, which was initiated by Operation Flood during the 1970s and 1980s. This national initiative has revolutionized liquid milk production and marketing in India, making it the largest producer of milk During the post-2000 period, hybrid maize for poultry and industrial use and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton have shown great strides in production, leading to sizeable exports of cotton, which made India the second largest exporter of cotton in 2007–2008.
- 5. CONCERNS OF FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA • India, currently has the largest number of undernourished people in the world i.e. around 195 million. • Nearly 47 million or 4 out of 10 children in India do not meet their full human potential because of chronic undernutrition or stunting. • Agricultural productivity in India is extremely low. • The composition of the food basket is increasingly shifting away from cereals to high value agricultural commodities like fish, eggs, milk and meat. As incomes continue to rise, this trend will continue and the indirect demand for food from feed will grow rapidly in India. • According to FAO estimates in ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2018” report, about 14.8% of the population is undernourished in India. • India ranked 76th in 113 countries assessed by The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) in the year 2018, based on four parameters—affordability, availability and quality and safety. • As per the Global Hunger Index, 2018, India was ranked 103rd out of 119 qualifying countries.
- 6. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES National Food Security Mission • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in 2007. • It aims to increase production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and commercial crops, through area expansion and productivity enhancement. • It works toward restoring soil fertility and productivity at the individual farm level and enhancing farm level economy. • It further aims to augment the availability of vegetable oils and to reduce the import of edible oils. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) • It was initiated in 2007, and allowed states to choose their own agriculture and allied sector development activities as per the district/state agriculture plan. • It was converted into a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 2014-15 also with 100% central assistance.. • Objectives: Making farming a remunerative economic activity through strengthening the farmer’s effort, risk mitigation and promoting agri-business entrepreneurship. Major focus is on pre & post-harvest infrastructure, besides promoting agri-entrepreneurship and innovations.
- 7. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES(contd..) E-marketplace: The government has created an electronic national agriculture market (eNAM) to connect all regulated wholesale produce markets through a pan-India trading portal. Massive irrigation and soil and water harvesting programme to increase the country’s gross irrigated area from 90 million hectares to 103 million hectares by 2017. The government has also taken significant steps to combat under- and malnutrition over the past two decades, through The introduction of mid-day meals at schools. It is a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme which covers all school children studying in Classes I-VIII of Government, Government-Aided Schools. Anganwadi systems to provide rations to pregnant and lactating mothers, Subsidised grain for those living below the poverty line through a public distribution system. Food fortification The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, legally entitles up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
- 8. CHALLENGES TO FOOD SECURITY • Climate Change: Higher temperatures and unreliable rainfall makes farming difficult. Climate change not only impacts crop but also livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, and can cause grave social and economic consequences in the form of reduced incomes, eroded livelihoods, trade disruption and adverse health impacts. • Lack of access to remote areas: For the tribal communities, habitation in remote difficult terrains and practice of subsistence farming has led to significant economic backwardness. • Increase in rural-to-urban migration, large proportion of informal workforce resulting in unplanned growth of slums which lack in the basic health and hygiene facilities, insufficient housing and increased food insecurity. • Overpopulation, poverty, lack of education and gender inequality. • Inadequate distribution of food through public distribution mechanisms (PDS i.e. Public Distribution System).
- 9. CHALLENGES TO FOOD SECURITY(contd..) • Biofuels: The growth of the biofuel market has reduced the land used for growing food crops. • Conflict: Food can be used as a weapon, with enemies cutting off food supplies in order to gain ground. Crops can also be destroyed during the conflict. • Unmonitored nutrition programmes: Although a number of programmes with improving nutrition as their main component are planned in the country but these are not properly implemented. • Lack of coherent food and nutrition policies along with the absence of intersectoral coordination between various ministries. • Corruption: Diverting the grains to open market to get better margin, selling poor quality grains at ration shops, irregular opening of the shops add to the issue of food insecurity.
- 10. SOLUTIONS TO FOOD SECURITY ISSUES • The government policy needs to adopt an integrated policy framework to facilitate agriculture productivity. • The measures should focus mainly on rationale distribution of cultivable land, improving the size of the farms and providing security to the tenant cultivators • Aeroponics and hydroponics are systems that allow plants to be grown without soil. Plants grown in this way take in water and nutrients efficiently. These methods can be used in the areas of poor soil quality and soil erosion. • Adoption of crops and techniques with lower water requirements, such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method of rice production, contributes to resilience by enabling equal or better yields to be achieved with less water withdrawal. • Planting crops with lower water requirements and agricultural practices that maintain soil moisture, such as maintaining vegetative cover between crops, can also contribute to resilience. • Crop diversification: Higher profitability and stability in production highlight the importance of crop diversification, e.g. legumes alternative with rice and wheat. Growing of non-cereal crops such as oilseeds, fruits and vegetables need to be encouraged.
- 11. SOLUTIONS TO FOOD SECURITY ISSUES(contd..) • Strategies for better food storage should be adopted. • The Blue Revolution: Sea, lakes and rivers can be used to provide food and nutrition. Fish are a very good source of protein and do not require good soil. • Biotechnology and appropriate technology: Selective breeding or genetic modification (GM) of plants and animals can be done to produce specific features and adaptations. • Existing direct nutrition programmes should be revamped to enable management by women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) and /or local bodies along with orientation and training of community health workers • Local community education on key family health and nutrition practices using participatory and planned communication methodologies will be helpful. • The cooperatives play an important role in food security in India especially in the southern and western parts of the country. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. The cooperatives should be encouraged. • Fostering rural-urban economic linkages can be an important step towards ensuring food security by- • enhancing and diversifying rural employment opportunities, especially for women and youth, • enabling the poor to better manage risks through social protection,