From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Overview of food security in India
Food security
has been a major concern in
India
. In 2022, the
Global Food Security Index
ranked India at 68th out of the 113 major countries in terms of food security.
[1]
In 2023, the
Global Hunger Index
ranked India at 111th out of 125 countries.
[2]
According to
United Nations
, there are nearly 195 million undernourished people in India that make up a quarter of the world's undernourished population. In addition, roughly 43% of children in India are chronically undernourished.
[3]
Though the current nutritional standards meets 100% of daily food requirements, India lags far behind in terms of a quality protein intake at 20%; this shortcoming can be alleviated by making available protein-rich food products such as soybeans, lentils, meat, eggs, dairy, etc. more readily accessible and affordable for Indian citizens.
[4]
The
Human Rights Measurement Initiative
[5]
finds that India is operating at only 56.8% of its capacity based its economic power to ensure its citizens have adequate food security.
[6]
Laws
[
edit
]
In order to ensure citizens' fundamental
rights to accessible and affordable food
, the
Parliament of India
enacted the
National Food Security Act
in 2013. Also known as the Right to Food Act, this
Act
seeks to provide
subsidized
food grains to approximately two-thirds of
India
's 1.33 billion population.
[7]
It was signed into law on 10 September 2013,
retroactive to
5 July 2013.
[8]
[9]
Schemes by government
[
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]
Central Initiatives
[
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]
- The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was established in 1965 for the purpose of procurement, storage, and distribution of food grains. It has been playing a major role in the food security of India.
[10]
- The National Food Security Act,2013 (NFSA 2013) converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programs of the Government of India. It also includes the
Midday Meal Scheme
,
Integrated Child Development Services
scheme, and the
Public Distribution System
. In 2017?18, over Rs 1500 billion (7.6% of the government's total expenditure) have been allocated to provide food subsidies under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
[11]
- The NFSA 2013 also recognizes maternity entitlements. Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.
[12]
State Initiatives
[
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]
- Karnataka
has launched the 'Indira Canteen', which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a very low price. This idea was implemented by
Siddaramaiah
as CM so that no one in the state would go hungry and everyone would get healthy food.
[13]
- Andhra Pradesh
has supported the Nalabothu Foundation, which provides free meals to people in need by redistributing excess food from homes, restaurants, businesses, canteens, and gatherings. This scheme was brought to national attention by Prime Minister Modi.
[14]
- Tamil Nadu
has launched 'Amma Unavagam' (Mother's canteen), or more commonly known as Amma canteen.
[15]
The genesis of this program could be traced to the scheme proposed by
Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute
in 2012 and is continuing its part in the
mid-day meal scheme
.
[16]
Challenges for India
[
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]
A lack of access to affordable and healthy foods is widespread throughout India. With over 60% of India's population depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the agricultural sector is critical for both India's economy and food security levels across the country.
[17]
However, India's agricultural sector faces a growing number of challenges, including lower agricultural productivity due to climate volatility and reduced available farmland partially due to India's rapidly increasing population outpacing economic growth that strains India's natural resources and land availability.
[18]
India produces around 100 million tonnes of rice every year. While there might be enough food for the whole population of India, many families and especially children in India don't have access to food because of financial problems. Thus, this is the cause of millions of malnourished children around India. The cultural knowledge in India allows them to have a very nutritional and balanced diet. Nearly the whole of the Indian population has rice at least once a day which allows them to have carbohydrates in their system. Since India is most commonly known for producing and exporting rice to other countries, their lifestyle will be mainly dominated by rice.
[19]
Technological solutions
[
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]
India can use some methods to improve the availability and affordability of protein rich food products using the latest environmental friendly technology without the need of additional land and water.
[20]
Biogas
or natural gas or methane produced from farm/agro/crop/domestic waste can also be used in addition to mined
natural gas
for producing protein rich cattle/fish/poultry/pet animal feed economically by cultivating
Methylococcus capsulatus
bacteria culture in a decentralized manner near to the rural/consumption areas with tiny land and water foot print.
[21]
[22]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Global Food Security Index (GFSI)"
.
The Economist
. 7 February 2023.
- ^
"India slips in Global Hunger Index, ranks 107 out of 121 nations"
.
Al Jazeera
.
- ^
"Nutrition and Food Security - UN India"
.
UN India
. Archived from
the original
on 6 January 2018
. Retrieved
5 January
2018
.
- ^
"India: Global Food Security Index"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 July 2012
. Retrieved
11 January
2019
.
- ^
"Human Rights Measurement Initiative ? The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries"
.
humanrightsmeasurement.org
. Retrieved
24 February
2022
.
- ^
"India - HRMI Rights Tracker"
.
rightstracker.org
. Retrieved
24 February
2022
.
- ^
"National Food Security Act"
(PDF)
. PRS Legislative Research. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 27 January 2018
. Retrieved
5 January
2018
.
- ^
"Press Information Bureau"
. Retrieved
5 January
2018
.
- ^
"Food Security Act To Be Implemented From June 5"
.
BTVI.in
. Retrieved
5 January
2018
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on 10 January 2024
. Retrieved
12 January
2021
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"Expenditure Budget, Union Budget 2017-18"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 6 January 2018
. Retrieved
5 January
2018
.
- ^
The Gazette of India.
"The National Food Security Act, 2013"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"Indira Canteen, Karnataka"
. Archived from
the original
on 8 December 2020.
- ^
"Nalabothu foundation"
.
- ^
"Tamil Nadu's Amma canteen concept catches on in other states"
,
Live Mint
, 27 March 2017
- ^
How Village Restaurants Could Change The Lives Of The Rural Poor
- ^
"India"
,
The World Factbook
, Central Intelligence Agency, 5 September 2023
, retrieved
7 September
2023
- ^
"USDA ERS - India Continues to Grapple with Food Insecurity"
.
www.ers.usda.gov
. Archived from
the original
on 7 September 2023
. Retrieved
7 September
2023
.
- ^
Swaminathan, M.S.; Bhavani, R.V. (2013).
"Food production & availability - Essential prerequisites for sustainable food security"
.
The Indian Journal of Medical Research
.
138
(3): 383?391.
PMC
3818607
.
PMID
24135188
.
- ^
"Food made from natural gas will soon feed farm animals ? and us"
. Retrieved
31 January
2018
.
- ^
"BioProtein Production"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 10 May 2017
. Retrieved
31 January
2018
.
- ^
"New venture selects Cargill's Tennessee site to produce Calysta FeedKind® Protein - Calysta"
.
calysta.com
. Archived from
the original
on 20 December 2016.
Further reading
[
edit
]
Ramaswamy, S. (2017). Food Security in India. India: MJP Publishers.
External links
[
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]