Food Security

REFERENCE NEWS:

• Recently, the Prime Minister announced that the government will extend the free ration scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, covering 80 crore poor people, for five years. At the beginning of 2023, the scheme was extended for one year, which will end on December 31.
• As of January 2023, with an estimated expenditure of Rs 2 trillion for a year, it is one of the largest food security programmes in the world.

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.

• The four main dimensions of food security:

• • Availability: Sufficient quantities of food must be available to feed the population. The amount of food available is a function of national production, reserve stock, import/export and food aid.
  • Access to Food: It covers the ability of a consumers to secure food in the market place. This underscores the purchasing power of households as well as the social accessibility to food.
  • Utilization: Food utilization refers to the capacity of the human body to absorb safe and nutritious food required for good nutrition. This depends on the quantity, quality and diversity of food consumed, as well as adequate health care and sanitation services, and maternal and child care.
  • Stability: Stability is typically linked to the vulnerability context and risk factors that can negatively impact food availability or access to food over time.
• For food security objectives to be realized, all four dimensions must be fulfilled simultaneously.

INDIA’S FOOD SECURITY:

• India has witnessed continuous economic advancement and has attained self-sufficiency in cereal production. Despite this, high levels of poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition and hidden hunger persist.
• As per the world food programme, India is home to a quarter of all undernourished people worldwide.
• According to the Global Food Security Index 2022, India is ranked at 68th position among 113 countries with the overall score of 58.9.
• As per Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023, India has been ranked 111th position out of 125 countries.
• As per International Food Security Assessment, 2022–32 of US Department of Agriculture, by the next decade, the number of food-insecure people in India is projected to decrease to 24.7 million or 1.7 percent.

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS:

• National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA),
  • It governs the country’s largest beneficiary-centric programme. The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) provides food security to 81.35 crore persons every month.
• National Food Security Mission:
  • The mission was launched in 2007 as a Central Sector Scheme (CSS) to increase food production and productivity through area expansion and productivity enhancement interventions in rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, etc.
• One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC):
  • ONORC has been successfully achieved in all 36 states and Union Territories, ensuring the nation-wide portability of ration cards.
• Minimum Support Price (MSP):
  • Government has increased the MSP with a return of at least 50% over all India weighted average cost of production from 2018-19. Also, MSP is revised periodically.
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY):
  • PMFBY was launched in 2016 addressing problems of high premium rates for farmers and reduction in sum insured due to capping.
• National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) platform:
  • An online marketplace for farmers to trade their products without geographical boundaries.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana:
  • It is an umbrella scheme implemented by Ministry of Food Processing Industries and aims at increasing value addition in agricultural sector.
• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH):
  • MIDH is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, bamboo, tuber crops etc.
• RKVY RAFTAAR:
  • It is aimed at strengthening infrastructure in Agriculture and Allied sectors by building Agripreneurship & Agri-Business ecosystem in the country, facilitating financial aid to potential Agristartups and nurturing a system of business incubation.
• Extra reading: https://www.ilearncana.com/details/Indian-Agriculture--Doubling-Farmers%E2%80%99-income/4188

CHALLENGES TO FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA:

• Poverty:
  • India still has nearly 229 million multidimensional poor, in absolute terms — the highest in the world. Poverty undermines people’s ability to access and utilise food effectively.
• Size of landholding:
  • Around 86% of agrarian landholdings in India are of size less than two hectares. This hinders the transition of agriculture from sustenance level to a commercial level.
• Land degradation:
  • According to ‘Desertification and Land Degradation of Selected Districts of India’, an atlas published by the ISRO, about 29.32% of the Total Geographic Area (TGA) of the country is undergoing degradation.
• Groundwater depletion:
  • Monoculture of water intensive crops in the semi-arid Punjab plains has resulted in groundwater depletion and desertification.
• Excessive use of chemicals:
  • Indian farmers use fertilizers without taking into consideration the actual requirement of the crops and existing composition of soil nutrients
  • For instance, while the desirable ratio of N-P-K application is 4:2:1, it is 31.4:8:1 in Punjab.
• Low productivity:
  • The agricultural yield (quantity of a crop produced per unit of land) in India is found to be lower in the case of most crops, as compared to other top producing countries such as China, Brazil and the United States.
• Fragmented supply chain:
  • Open ended procurement of grains results in the FCI holding on to more grain stocks than it can store. However, due to shortage of storage facilities, cold storages and transportation system, FCI incurs wastage of grains.
• Climate change:
  • Global warming and climate change are inducing extreme weather conditions such as erratic monsoons, heatwaves and severe cyclones. This is affecting the production of food grains.
• Data deficiency:
  • Neither the central nor the state governments have such exact data on population that utilise the PDS. This hinders targeted policy making.

WAY FORWARD:

• Initiate agrarian reforms:
  • Accessibility and affordability to high yielding seeds and plant breeds, formal credit, critical infrastructures like irrigation, pre and post-harvest treatment, storage and transport infrastructure needs to be improved.
  • In this regard, the three farm laws(The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act ) must be revisited.
• Leverage on technology:
  • India needs to utilize the opportunities from genetic modification and IT enabled solutions such as Artificial intelligence and Big data to leverage the full potentials of Indian agriculture.
• Make agriculture attractive:
  • Professionalism in agriculture will not be possible without adequate entrepreneurship opportunities and professional courses in agriculture. Hence for the same, a conducive ecosystem must be created.
• Encourage research:
  • Agriculture research in India is slow to come by and is largely restricted to the public sector. Hence, focus must be given on enhancing agri-research and encouraging private investments in R and D.
• Dynamic logistics:
  • The allocation of the food grains to states should be dynamic, based on the lifting of food grains captured on a monthly basis across states. On the storage and distribution front, FCI godowns should operate in tandem, considering the needs arising in particular states.
• Augment storage facilities:
  • Through measures such as the Grameen Bhandaran yojana and PPP models, storage facilities should be further expanded.
  • Also, Indian Railways is running the Kisan Rail train service to transport perishables and agricultural products, including milk, meat, and fish.
• Move towards choice-based PDS:
  • Experts have noted that TPDS could be replaced with choice based PDS, such as in the form of cash transfers or food coupons. This will empower the people to choose the food they desire.
• Millets-the nutri-cereals:
  • Millets should be mainstreamed for better nutritional outcomes. For example, National Millet Mission.