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INTRODUCTION
What is Food Security?
According to Food and Agricultural Organization (F.A.O) of the U.N.O, Food security implies that,
"Food Security exists when all people, at all times, should have physical and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food
preferencesforan active andhealthylife".
The 1996 World Food Summit definition of food security is “Food security is the peoples’ right to
define their own policies and strategies for the sustainable production, distribution and
consumption of food that guarantees the right to food for the entire population, on the basis of
small and medium-sized production, respecting their own cultures and the diversity of peasant,
fishing and indigenous forms of agricultural production, marketing and management of rural areas,
in which women play a fundamental role.”
Equitable access to food refers to both access to the supply (or availability) of food and to the
entitlement to food i.e. the resources, financial and natural and human ability to obtain food.
Food insecurity occurs when food is either unavailable and/or where there is a lack of entitlement
to food. Insecurity takes two basic forms:
Transitory food insecurity: this generally refers to extreme cases of famine caused by war,
flooding, drought, crop failure, pest infestations, and loss of purchasing power in farming
communities and market failures through high food prices. Such problems can also trigger
production and subsistence food crises threatening a populations access to food;
Chronic food insecurity: long term and deep-rooted food insecurity is largely driven by
endemic poverty. People are subject to a continual problem of poor diet through an inability
to acquire their basic food requirements, either because they are unable to buy it or to
produce it for themselves. Food security implies access by all people at all times to
sufficient quantities of food to lead an active & healthy life. It thus has two dimensions: (1)
Production of enough food and (2) to check whether the entire population have sufficient
purchasing power to demand for the food. M.S Swaminathan, the great agricultural
scientist said, “In a country where 60 percent of the people depend on agriculture for their
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livelihood, it’s better to become an agricultural forced based of Food Security rather than a
nuclear force.
I. Food Security in India: Review of Literature
Since the ancient period, Indian people had to face recurrent famines specially due to lack of
communication and transport. But in those days, maximum emphasis was given not only to
agriculture but also to maximize the food production. At the same time, the producer was advised
not to hold on keeping the surplus but to share the surplus amount with others who are in need.
With the improvement in communication and transport system in the modern period it’s unlikely
that famines will occur again. Upto 1969, India was facing the challenge of feeding her growing
population and was dependent on the ignominious PL-480 wheat import from U.S.A. She could
improve the situation since 1969 through Green Revolution by the introduction of High Yielding
Variety (HYV) seeds in wheat and then paddy with the help of irrigation, chemical fertilizers and
pesticides. However, the Green Revolution was subjected to the law of diminishing returns
especially in the 1980s. There are also many negative consequences of it. Naturally, the
government felt that a second Green Revolution is necessary. But the present situation is more
dangerous as agriculture leading to displacement of small and marginal farmers. Thus, it will be
better if we pay attention to alternative system of agriculture of sustainable type. This will depend
on organic farming, small irrigation, retention of biodiversity as far as possible. It’s also necessary
to adopt a few subsidiary measures to achieve food security in the future and avoid food security
in the future.
Upanishad,teachesusto followcertain inviolable rulesof FOOD SECURITY:
“Annam Na Nindayate. Tad Bratam.” (Don’t despise anna. This is your inviolable rule of life
or brata.)
“Annam Na Parichaksita. Tad Bratam.” (Don’t neglect anna. This is the inviolable rule of
life.)
Annam Bahu Kurbita. Tad Bratam.” (Increase anna manifold. This is your brata.)
Article 47 of the Constitution of India states that, “The State shall regard raising the level of
nutrition and standard of living of its people and improvement in public health among its primary
duties”. Successive Five-Year Plans laid down the policies and strategies for achieving these
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goals [Tenth Five Year Plan, 2002-2007]. Food security in the past referred to the overall regional,
national or even global food supply and shortfalls in supply compared to requirements, but with
increased observation of disparities in the sufficiency of food intake by certain groups, despite
overall adequacy of supply the term has been applied more recently mostly at a local, household,
or individual level and has been broadened beyond notions of food supply to include element of
access, vulnerability and sustainability. There are two things which are essential for food security,
production/import of foodgrain (i.e. physical availability) and household-level purchase of
foodgrains (i.e. economic accessibility). Since household is the logical social unit, the question of
access to food should be seen at the household level. Similarly, one should keep in mind that
household food security should be considered a necessary but not sufficient condition for food
adequate nutrition. Stated in a different way, food security at the household or even individual level
is an “input” not an “outcome”—hence the distinction between food security and nutrition security.
From the entitlement perspective, one can say that the problem of food security does not lie
entirely on per capita availability of food, but also on the economic access to food or what is
termed as entitlement.
The entitlement of a person stands for the set of different alternative commodity bundles that the
person can acquire through the use of the various legal channels of acquirement open to someone
in his position. In a private ownership market economy, the entitlement set of a person is
determined by his original bundle of ownership (what is called endowment) and the various
alternative bundles he can acquire starting respectively from each initial endowment, through the
use of trade and production (what is called his exchange entitlement mapping). A narrow
interpretation of ‘entitlement thesis’ would suggest that given the ‘endowments’ a household could
access food from any place. In other words, entitlement could be equated to accessibility. Hence
household’s economic access to food is directly related to income and indirectly related to the
labour supply (initial endowment) or the employment status of the earning members. Speaking on
the availability of foodgrain, one can say that in the case of India, the households can rely either
on the public distribution system (PDS) or the open market. PDS in India has undergone major
changes in the year 1992 (in the form of Revamped Public Distribution System) and in 1997 (in the
form of Targeted Public Distribution System), thus converting the universal system into a targeted
one. Some of the factors behind the reforms have been the weaker sides of the universal PDS
such as: urban bias of the PDS, limited accessibility of the PDS by the poor, regional disparity in
the PDS, inefficiencies of the PDS (in terms of mounting food subsidy) and leakages from the
PDS.
The rationing system was first introduced in 1939 as a wartime measure to combat inflation in food
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grain prices arising out of shortages, in Bombay. This was later extended to six other cities and a
few regions due to the shock of Bengal famine of 1943. The famine of 1943 led to the appointment
of first Foodgrains Policy Committee, which recommended procurement of foodgrains from surplus
areas, rationing for equitable distribution and statutory price control for checking the price rise. The
Department of Food under the Government of India was created in 1942, which helped in food
matters getting the serious attention of the government. However, before Independence the
rationing system was confined to the urban areas. After Independence, Foodgrains Procurement
Commission of 1950 besides making other recommendations suggested the rationing in all the
towns with a population of more than fifty thousand, with informal rationing in other towns and
some regulated supply of grains in rural areas. The Foodgrain Inquiry Committee of 1957
suggested maintenance of food buffer stocks and amongst other measures recommended setting
up of a foodgrains stabilization organization to undertake purchase and sale operations of
foodgrains. In order to tackle mass discontent on account of food scarcity, the government entered
into the PL-480 agreement with the USA for the import of 31 lakh tonnes of rice in April 1956.
Imports under PL-480 became a regular feature for a long period that did not help the government
to build up sufficient buffer stock. India’s concern for food security led the policy makers to adopt
measures for food availability—both physical and economic. For increasing the physical
availability of foodgrain, India had to resort for the adoption of new technology. India adopted the
high yielding varieties programmes during the mid-sixties. The government introduced an intensive
development programme in 7 districts selected from 7 states in 1960 and this programme was
named Intensive Area Development Programme. This programme was later extended to the
remaining states by selecting one district from each state for intensive development. In October
1965, the net was extended and 114 districts out of 325 were selected for intensive development
and the programme was labeled as Intensive Agricultural Areas Programme. In the face of
skyrocketing food prices from the early 1960s the Congress government started a system of public
procurement and distribution of foodgrains from 1965 aka Public Distribution System (PDS), and
at the same time it pushed the HYV fertilizer technology in irrigated areas. The main agency
providing foodgrains to the PDS is the Food Corporation of India (FCI) set up in 1965. The
essential commodities supplied through the PDS are rice, wheat, sugar, edible oils, kerosene and
coal (soft coke). A small quantity of coarse cereals and cloth is also distributed in some states.
The objectives of PDS have changed from time to time. During the period 1945-1970s the main
objective of PDS was to protect the urban consumer, ensure food availability through rationing in
major urban centres, and thereby, to prevent speculation and undue rise in prices. From the 1970s
onwards, the objectives have become rather ambiguous. One of the suggestions, which have
come, owing to the inefficiency of the PDS, is to go for food stamps programme. The suggestion is
to dismantle the PDS and FCI and move to a system of well-targeted food stamps whereby the
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beneficiaries pay a part of their purchases from the market in terms of these stamps. Thus the
food stamps are redeemable for the purchases of foodgrains and other essential commodities at
unsubsidized prices. Such a strategy has the advantages of higher food consumption effects and
lower administrative and budgetary cost of operations. Since 1991, food subsidies in India have
come under attack from the policy-makers. Arguments have been given to reduce food subsidies
to control inflation. In the context of structural adjustment, suggestions have been made for
altering the public food delivery. Most of the suggestions relate to methods of including or methods
of excluding certain number of persons from the system of public distribution (Swaminathan,
1996). The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) induced the government to restructure the
PDS by targeting specific areas with special reference to ‘the population living in the most difficult
areas of the country, such as, drought prone areas, desert areas, tribal areas, certain designated
hilly areas and urban slum areas’ The major objectives of the Revamped Public Distribution
System (RPDS), introduced by the government in 1992, were: (i) to increase coverage of the
population in the target areas; (ii) to improve the access of income poor consumers to the PDS;
(iii) to increase the range of commodities supplied by FPSs, and (iv) to provide selected
commodities at prices lower than in the general PDS. Adopting an approach, what could be
termed as, help for all the people living in poor areas, the government shortlisted 1752 blocks
under the RPDS to improve the food availability situation in these backward areas. The offtake of
both rice and wheat has increased steadily from 1992-93 to 1996-97 under the RPDS. The offtake
of cereals under RPDS aggregated to 3.5 million tonnes during 1993, 3.6 million tonnes during
1994 and 4.1 million tonnes in 1995, but it was considerably lower than the assessed requirement
of about 8 million tonnes for these areas. The TPDS was introduced in June 1997 in an attempt to
limit the mounting cost of subsidy, and at the same time, ensuring that the BPL population does
get subsidized food grains. Under this system subsidized foodgrains are provided only to people to
below the poverty line. There are arguments in favour of universalism and against targeting. First,
there is the argument for universal entitlements on the basis that all individuals have certain basic
rights. In a poor country, majority of people lack these basic rights. Secondly, targeting in itself
involves private and social costs and these costs may be high. The most obvious costs are the
costs of administration, and cost due to loss of quality. Social costs arise when targeting excludes
the needy (what is commonly referred to as a Type-II error and termed ‘informational distortions’
by Sen). Targeting may also lead to ‘incentive distortions’ whereby people alter their behaviour in
response to targeting, leading to losses in social output. Social costs can also be attached to the
invasiveness of targeting (as the identification procedure can involve probing and policing people’s
lives). In short, the costs of targeting can be sizeable and may outweigh the fiscal gains to be
obtained from targeting.
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Anthropometric indices (height, weight and BMI) are widely used for the assessment of the
adequacy of energy intake. Body weights and heights of children reflect their nutritional and
growth status; weights and heights of adults represent the cumulative effect of dietary intake over
a long period. The BMI is the most widely used anthropometric index for the assessment of the
nutritional status in adults as it reflects the effect of both acute and chronic energy
deficiencies/excess. BMI, however, does not clearly bring out the entire extent of chronic under-
nutrition. For instance those who are stunted and have low body weight may have a normal BMI.
An increase in energy intake will result in improvement in BMI both in adults and in children, but in
adults and children with severe stunting, improvement in dietary intake will not result in an
improvement in height. Continued over-consumption of energy especially in stunted individuals
could lead to over-nutrition, obesity and increased risk of non-communicable diseases. BMI has
been used to assess energy deficiency as well as energy excess. The currently used norms
(<18.5—undernutrition>25 overweight) were evolved on the basis of data from the developed
countries where adverse health consequences of under-nutrition have been shown to be
associated with BMI values below 18.5 and the health hazards of over-nutrition have been
reported with BMI of over 25. Household food security and nutritional status are not the same
things. This is because nutritional status depends not only on household level food security but
also on gender norms and access to health care etc. Micronutrient deficiency—especially
deficiencies in iron, iodine and vitamin-A—are even more widespread worldwide than that of
protein-energy malnutrition. Besides being important causes of disability in themselves,
micronutrient deficiencies often underlie other types of morbidity. Iron deficiency is the most
common cause of anaemia worldwide. The consequences of iron deficiency are more serious for
women. Iodine deficiency disorder (IDDs) occur when iodine intakes are less than physiological
requirements (about 150 micrograms daily per person) over a long period. In India about 200
million people are estimated to be at risk of IDD. Vitamin-A deficiency (VAD) occurs when body
stores are depleted to the extent that physiological functions are impaired. Depletion occurs when
the diet contains over a long time too little vitamin-A. to replace the amount used by tissues or for
breast-feeding. The South-East Asia Region of WHO (including India) has the highest prevalence
of Vitamin-A deficiency, as well as the largest number of people affected.
II. Objectives of Food Security
On July 27, 2010, Mr. Sharad Pawar, the Minister of Food & Agriculture reported in the Lok
Sabha that 11,278 tons of food grains (wheat and rice stock) worth Rs. 6.86 crores (Rs. 69 million)
were found damaged in government go-downs (F.C.I depots) as on July 2010. The F.C.I had 57.8
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million tons worth of food grains on July 1, 2010, against the buffer norm of 31.9 million tons.
Amongst all the states, the biggest culprit in such food damage was Punjab (7066 tons) followed
by West Bengal (1846 tons) & Gujarat (1457 tons).
With the emergence of Amartya Sen’s vision of development illustrated by the concept of
ENTITLEMENT (that generates the capability of an individual to command certain goods &
services) in the 1980s attention related to Food Security then shifted from ‘FAD Hypothesis’
towards Entitlement approach. Taking a cue from Sen’s notion of Entitlement, the World Bank in
1986 defined Food Security from the viewpoint of ‘accessibility’ to food and asserted that Food
Security is “Access by all people at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life.”
The horrifying 1943 Bengal Famine was not due to lack of food but due to lack of entitlement, as
defended strongly by Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen.
Within the ambit of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court of India has laid down
the right of food as a fundamental right. Thus, the right to food and safe drinking water is a basic
human right in India.
“Foodshouldbeprovidedtoallasamatterofrightwithoutincludinganyhumiliation on
the poor.” – (Parikh,1998)
The objectivesof foodsecurity,thus,are:
Objective of ensuring production of adequate food grains.
Objective of maximising stability in flow of food grain supply.
Objective of securing access to available supplies on the part of needy people.
The dimensionsof FoodSecurityare:
At the national level, Food security ensures availability of food grains in adequate quantity.
At household level, Food Security ensures availability of food grains needed for healthy and
active life.
At the intra-household, Food Security ensures availability of adequate food grains to every
member of the family for maintaining a healthy life.
Availability and absorption of food are two different concepts. Both are necessary
simultaneously to attain Food Security.
India hasthree stagesof Foodmanagement:
Stage of procurement of food grains from farmers at remunerative prices.
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Stage of distribution of food grains to the consumers, especially to the poor.
Stage of maintaining a buffer stock of food grains.
III. Food Security: Methodology
The 1996 World Food Summit (WFS) called to reduce by half the number of undernourished
people by the year 2015. At the same time, the Millennium Declaration (MD) in 2000 integrated
hunger and poverty reduction by setting the MDG target of “halving, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportionofpeoplewhosuffer from hunger”(target1.C).
Monitoring Progress
For the purpose of monitoring progress towards the WFS and MDG, FAO has been estimating and
regularly updating the number and proportion of population below the minimum level of dietary
energy consumption (MDG indicator 1.9). Such estimates, produced at global, regional and
country level, are presented annually in the FAO State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI)
report, which was first issued in 1999.
Methodological framework
FAO methodological framework for estimating the prevalence of undernourishment consists of a
frequency distribution of individual food consumption (expressed as dietary energy) and a cut-off
point for intake inadequacy defined on the basis of minimum requirement norms. The population
with food consumption below the minimum energy requirement is considered underfed or food
deprived.
As the empirical distribution of individual food consumption derived from existing surveys is not, in
general, representative of the distribution of annual average per capita food consumption in the
population, FAO continues relying on a theoretical model to represent the latter.
The distribution of food dietary energy consumption in the population is assumed to be log-normal
and is fully characterized by two parameters, related to the average quantity of food available for
human consumption, and to a measure of variability (Coefficient of Variation) in food consumption
within the population.
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The average food available for human consumption (Dietary Energy Supply, DES) is derived from
the Food Balance Sheets, which are regularly prepared and updated by FAO and available for
nearly all the countries.
IV. Food Security: A Discussion
To maintain the need of food for the growing population and to meet the minimum food
requirement, various steps have been taken in these directions.
Biotechnology is used to modify different crops genetically to increase the yield per hectare.
Genetically modified crops require less water compared to other crops.
Biotechnology made the crops more resistant to insects’ pests and diseases.
Biotechnology benefits both rich and poor farmers and make the environment safe and free
from pollution.
Problems:
In spite of surplus food-grains stock, it is also a reality that a vast number of people do not
have enough money to feed themselves twice a day. Even in 1999-), 20% of the people of
India were below the poverty line.
Though the percentage of people below poverty line declined substantially from 36% in
1993-94 to 20% in 1999-2000, yet in absolute number it was 210 million which by no
means is a small number.
There has been a gradual shift from cultivation of food crops to cultivation of fruits,
vegetables, oil seeds, and crops which act also as industrial raw materials. This had led to
the reduction in net sown area under cereals, millets and pulses.
The use of more and more land for construction of factories, ware-houses and shelters has
reduced the land under cultivation and now fertile land for farming, is no longer available.
The productivity of land has started showing a declining trend. Fertilizers, pesticides and
insecticides, which once showed dramatic results, are now being held responsible for
reducing fertility of the soil.
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Food crisis is not a new phenomenon at all. The classical economists explained food crisis
in terms of the Malthusian Theory of population. Now the Malthusian theory has been
discarded but the shadow of Malthus has still been haunting us. Even after considerable
economic development taking place in many countries of the world and even after the
development of newer technologies in agriculture, the world is still reeling under severe
food crisis. The prices of food items have been increasing not only in India but also in the
developed countries like the U.S.A & the U.K. two main factors responsible for this are: (1)
shortage in supply and (2) An increase in the price of crude oil in the international market.
Whereas, the factors responsible for price-hike of food in India are (1) per capita production
of food grains in India has increased at the rate of 0.7 percent per annum over the period
1990-2007 & (2) Though the government has earlier built up a buffer stock in food grains to
meet any temporary deficit in production, a major position of it stored in warehouses had
been damaged while the rest has been sold off to foreign countries. According to Food and
Agricultural Organization (F.A.O) of the U.N.O, “Food security exists when all people at
alltimeshaveaccesstosufficient,safeandnutritiousfoodto meet the dietaryneeds
andfoodpreference foran active andhealthylife.”
V. Role of Government & Government Intervention:
“Goodgovernance isperhapsthe single most important factorin eradicatingpoverty
andpromotingdevelopment” (KofiAnnan)
So, how could the “good food security governance” be understood?
The following working definition is hereby proposed:
Food security governance relates to formal and informal rules and processes through which
interests are articulated, and decisions relevant to food security in a country are made,
implemented and enforced on behalf of members of a society.
The issue of food security is widely discussed now. It has become a major concern of every
government. India is an agro-based country and agriculture is the mainstay of the population of
our country. Since ancient times, agriculture is concerned to be the backbone of our economy.
Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus, way back in 1798 studied the relation between world population
and food. According to Malthus, human population if not checked/controlled, grows in
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Geometric Progression (G.P) while food supply grows only in Arithmetic Progression (A.P).
Thus, according to the Malthusian thinking, time will come sooner or later when population will
outgrow food supply. It is actually happening now.
Government intervention in food grain marketing in India began in a big way in the mid-
1960s. It was meant to create a favourable incentive environment for the adoption of new
technology based on high yielding varieties of wheat and rice which were seen to possess vast
potential for raising grain production. India was then facing a severe food shortage. This made
necessary to create a stable environment for farmers adopting new seeds. At the same time it
was to be ensured that increase in production benefitted consumers. Several measures were
initiated to achieve the twin objectives of raising food production and improving food
availability.
Theseincluded:
Price assurance to producers using the system of minimum support prices (MSP)
implemented through obligatory procurement.
Inter and intra price stability through open-market operations.
Maintaining buffer stocks, and
Distribution of food grains at reasonable prices through the Public Distribution System.
These policies have been helpful in several ways. From a situation of massive shortages,
India has emerged as a grain surplus country and food security has been attained at the
national level. A strong base has been created for grain production and meeting grain
demand in the medium term. Prices of basic food items have remained relatively stable.
The policy has had a positive impact on farm income and led to an economic transformation
in the well-endowed, mainly irrigated regions. However, policy measures adopted since the
beginning of economic reforms in 1991 have created a situation that is unstable for fiscal
resources and is having an adverse impact on the demand for cereals which are the basic
staple for India’s vast populace. Large quantities of food grains have been accumulated in
public stocks, amounting to more than one-fourth of the annual production of rice and wheat
in the country, even as every fifth Indian is reported to be underfed according to the
minimum calorific requirement (2400 in rural & 2100 in urban) for a healthy and active life
(World Bank, 2002).
Another ominous consequence of government intervention in the food market is the rising
burden of food subsidy which is becoming fiscally unsustainable. There are also concerns
related to regional equity, efficiency, quality and imbalances in production. This examines
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the reasons for the mounting grain stocks in the country and analyses its implication for
food security, consumers and private trade.
Thus, government intervention in food-grain markets meant primarily for promoting food
security has reached a stage where consumers are being deprived of basic food when a
large proportion of the output is diverted from the market to government warehouses. High
prices for grains paid to producers, completely ignoring demand side factors and costs
involved in building and holding grain stocks have put them outside the reach of
consumers. Stocks are being liquidated by releasing them trade for export at a heavy
discount. This implies a sort of taxation for domestic consumers and provides a perverse
incentive for private trade to withdraw from the primary market.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, we can say that food is the first and foremost basic necessity. Absence of
food security leads to social and political instability which is not conducive to economic
crisis and for ensuring sustainable food security.
Four dangerous things are taking place in India:
Agricultural production is declining.
Small and marginal farmers who have borrowed money from money lenders are
committing suicides in large numbers all over the country.
Prime agricultural land is being diverted all over India in the name of ‘development’
by the government and passed onto powerful builders.
Rural poverty is growing, creating a sense of despair and anger among the rural.
India is now in a dangerous position. On the one hand, India is shining -- malfunctioning
and service sectors are growing & financial markets are booming. On the other hand, there
is growing darkness and deepening gloom in the agricultural sector. The second Green
Revolution should come and come fast. The growing disparity in incomes and wealth
between the urban and rural areas should be rapidly reduced. Otherwise the growing rural
poverty, misery and the consequences anger will surely destroy and the shining urban
India.
It should be remembered that in the 1990s, Soviet Union disintegrated, not because of the
American CIA, but because of the continuous failure of Russian agriculture. The Indian
planners should remember that one-third of India is already with the Maoists. This area is
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expanding day-by-day & not shrinking. This may spell the greatest danger to India’s
development and political stability.
So in this context, we can ask that:
IS THE INDIAN ECONOMY ‘ACTUALLY’ PROSPERING?
CAN WE LIVE UP TO THE PROMISE --- THE RIGHT TO FOOD FOR ALL ---
TO A WORLD FREE FROM HUNGER?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Anandabazar Patrika, August 24, 2010
2. Chatterjee, B. & Karmakar, A.K. – Food Security in India
3. Economic and Political Weekly, July 18, 2009
4. Frontline, Volume 27, Issue 17, August 24, 2010
5. Ganashakti, September 15, 2010
6. Kurukshetra, May 2009, September 2009, March 2010 & July 2010
7. www.agri.iitkgp.ernet.in
8. www.indiaenvironmentalportal.org.in
9. www.hindubusinessline.com
10.www.azadindia.org
