In understanding the concept of Food Security, one may start by considering household as a fundamental unit. A food secure household can be defined as one that has access to enough food for individual members of the family to lead a healthy life. Food is the basic requirement of any human being. But still, it is a dream to have nutritious food to a sizeable section of the world's population. Food shall ensure total growth of mind and body of all human beings. Food is not just calories; it is a part and parcel of culture and ecology. Agriculture is the foundation of life style and civilization.
More people have died as a consequence of hunger in the past 50 years than have been killed in all the wars, revolutions and murders in the last 150 years. No one died of hunger because there is not enough to grow around. There are enough resources and know-how to grow enough, store enough, distribute enough, and provide enough to everybody on earth. Hunger persists not because we cannot end it, but because we lack the will to get the job done.
We produce cereals to feed everyone, but cows, pigs and chicken consume a third of these. In the rich countries, apart from millions of tonnes of oil, cakes are used as animal feed although these can be consumed by human beings.
After the Second World War, there was a great hope for the world, especially for the Third World Countries, in wiping out poverty. Initially, most nations moved in the right direction in their quest for higher standards but over the decades because of both external and internal factors and natural disasters, many emerging economies became precarious. Twice as many countries are short of food today as there were in the 1950s. In the 1960s, the world's economy expanded healthily with most developing countries attaining GDP growth rates of around 5 per cent per annum. In the 1970s, there was an increase in oil prices, high inflation and increasing fiscal deficits, production short falls and price fluctuations and the growth was confined to a very narrow base controlled by a small section of the population.
The low growth rate of agriculture in 1973-80, compared to 1965-73, in all regions, indicates the lack of attention paid to this sector. The result was that, despite the efforts of many Third World Countries, income distribution became increasingly distorted, economic growth faltered, and poverty and hunger became widespread.
In the 1980s, due to a sharp fall in oil prices, high interest rates, worsening debt burden and the mismanagement of resources at the global level aggravated external and internal imbalances in many countries. The full brunt of these events has naturally fallen on agriculture and the worst hit have been the poor in the countryside and marginal farmers and landless labourers.
During the colonial period, vast tracts of land in the colonies were used to cultivate crops like rubber, tobacco, cocoa, spices, coffee, sugarcane and cotton and they were exported. But this continues, although the colonies became independent and, in the process, the traditional food sector was neglected. The entire Third World Countries suffered because of the onslaught of this monoculture. As per the FAO, 40 per cent of all tobacco land is in the Third World. Valuable agricultural lands in the Third World are forced to produce cash crops for the sole benefit of the First World Countries. Not only fertile lands are sacrificed for cash crops, the commercialization of agriculture has led to the irrational use of food. Now, we concentrate in producing food to feed animals for meat production. For example, in Latin America, about 20,000 sq. km of land is converted for cattle grazing and this is due to the boom in the meat export market to the United States. For example, in India, cattle are an important source of manure and energy apart from providing food. But because of Trade Liberalization, export of cattle meat has started and this is going to be ecologically disastrous in the future. It is a pity that no attempt has been made to ensure that food exports and cash crop production should be carried out only when the food needs of the people are met.
A 1990-study of the FAO predicts that the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture will slow the growth of food consumption worldwide, especially in the low income, food deficit countries. Asia, Latin America and Africa will lose both revenue and food security. East Asia will import 60 per cent more agricultural products than they did previously. South Asia will experience loss in its food trade. Latin American countries will find their agricultural bill rising, particularly for high price wheat, rice, fats, oils, meat, sugar and dairy products. The cost of agricultural imports in the African countries will grow from $4 billion in 1998 to $14 billion in 2000. Higher food costs due to increased monopolization will lead to further declines in consumption and famine will spread. According to one source (World Resources Institute, 1998), global expenses on agricultural research has increased to 258 per cent over the past three decades, but not much has been spent on local food crops and farmers of marginal lands have not been touched.
Environmental concerns loom large on the horizon and represent a continuing threat to household food security. UNEP warns about an environmental time bank and that the world risks losing all its productive land in less than 200 years to desertification if the present annual loss of 27 million hectares continues. Given that food insecurity and malnutrition are directly related to environmental degradation, a systematic approach has to be followed in determining the desirable level of investment in environmental preservation. The explosive mixture of poverty and environmental degradation in developing countries undermines the global ecological balance and food security.
Weeds, pests and insects can be chemically controlled but the chemicals raise the environmental issues. Their indiscriminate use is harmful to human beings. So there is need for environmentally sound methods of pest/ insect control. Overpowering images of famine and drought make it clear that there is no purpose served impeaching ecological and intergenerational equity to millions of people who are hungry. Instead, there has to be a community-led food security program, argues noted agricultural scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, that protects the ecological foundations essential for sustainable food and water security.
A major share of the active rural population in developing countries is engaged in agriculture and, within agriculture, food production employs the majority. Training of small holders covers basic literacy, bookkeeping, accounting, group organization, improved farm practices and environmental measures. Women are in fact the main food producers, income earners and guardians of family health and nutrition. Available data for 52 countries suggest that women constitute 20 per cent of total agricultural labor force. So special attention must be given while training women to enhance both their productive capacities and their contribution to family nutrition.
People's participation in the decision making process is very important. The involvement of small poor landholders, landless poor women in the design, preparation, implementation and evaluation of projects can make all the difference to escaping from poverty.
To enhance food security, production support has to be extended to individual small holders, so that they can raise productivity and not only meet their own needs but also supply the requirements of other food deficit households. Rural women are becoming farm laborers with increasing male migration to cities and any effort to raise rural food security must address them directly. Indigenous farming systems often contain a wealth of environmental knowledge, which needs to be assessed and adopted. NGOs can help food insecure households to achieve production and also can provide inputs, credits, training and technology together with support for marketing and storage.
Specific arrangements for food security at the global level or regional levels, through establishment of emergency reserves have been under consideration for a long time. In 1984 at Bucharest, a conference on global economic cooperation among developing countries on food and agriculture strongly supported efforts to set up a regional arrangement. However, progress has been relatively slow. In the SAARC, efforts are on to continue the set up such as this one.
Most developing countries do not have adequate storage capacities, which make it difficult for them to purchase food in good years and carry the stocks to bad years. In order to cope with the needs of a growing number of people, food security is primarily a question of purchasing power on entitlement.
Consolidation of land holdings, through community participation, is essential in both planning and implementation of land reforms and land settlement schemes. The development of micro enterprises for the rural poor is desirable as they not only provide purchasing power by raising rural incomes, living standards, and help stem the flow of rural migration to cities.
The right to food and right to life can be achieved only through International Cooperation. Whether the problem is trade, debt or the role of women in environment, we will have to play a vital role in stimulating the decisions of the political machinery and sensitizing global leaders to exercise their political power to eradicate poverty.
The opening of the world market and the stability of the international monetary system depend on favourable political conditions. The decline of the United States role as world policeman and world banker demands a better balance of power, based upon the participation of an increasing number of world regions (the European Union, the Indian sub-continent, Latin America and so on) in the joint management of global problems. But, since co-operation produces a precarious order, the solution of global issues, such as food security, needs a world government, which can stem from the strengthening and the democratisation of the UN.