CHAPTER 1: FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA

India has proved itself to be an emerging economic world power with an increasingly strong presence in the global marketplace. As many aspects of the nation are improving, however, just as many aspects are failing. Specifically, food security in India is worsening by the year. Inadequate levels of agricultural productivity and accessibility to food are aggravated by rising food prices and are extensively affecting the Indian population. Many Indians are battling malnutrition, health complications, and severe poverty as a result. India must cope with population, climate, and institutional constraints in order to establish food security and sustainable growth to secure its position as an economic power. A collaboration of international sources will be utilized in illustrating the current food security situation in India, as well as evidencing the identified driving forces responsible for food security and suggested reforms.

Food Insecurity in India

            The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) define food security as ‘the means accessed by all people at all times to the food needed for a healthy life (Powledge, 2010, p. 260). The issues facing food security in India are both qualitative and quantitative. Quantitatively, there is a large shortage of food grains due to low agricultural productivity; most dominantly seen in northeast India (Basu, 2006, p. 85). As a nation, India cannot ensure the availability and accessibility of food on a continuous basis. This leads to the quality concern of consumption as reflected in problems of malnutrition (Basu, 2006, p. 86).

Food insecurity is responsible for alarming rates of undernourished children in India—accounting for nearly forty percent of the world’s undernourished (Nolen, 2009, p. 2). This rate is twice as high as Sub-Saharan Africa and five times higher than in China (Nolen, 2009, p. 2). Developing nations in these regions continue to make progress battling child malnutrition. After nearly fifteen years of rapid growth, India has shown no improvement. India has advanced itself through its thriving information technology industries, modernized cities, numerous mobile phone users, yet childhood malnutrition rates have remained stagnant.

            Malnourished Indian children are stunted physically and experience permanent delays in cognitive development due to malnutrition. India should be more concerned with improving this aspect of its development as the World Bank reports this situation to have long-term effects on the overall nation (World Bank, 2011, p. 1). Specifically, the extreme levels of under-nutrition are reducing the country’s GDP growth by three percent each year (Nolen, 2009, p. 3). The World Bank attributes this decrease as this cognitive deficit reduces any individual’s lifetime earning potential by at least ten percent (Nolen, 2009, p. 4).

More alarming, many Indians don’t recognize malnutrition to be unique or horrifying. It is commonly regarded as a normalcy across northern India. Malnutrition affects one in five children and is responsible for 3,000 infant deaths each day. In northern and eastern India, at least fifty-five percent of children are malnourished. In southern India it is estimated that approximately thirty percent of children are affected (Nolen, 2009, p. 6).  While it is important to remember India is struck with the unfair scale of responsibility of supporting sixteen percent of the world’s population, this percentage should be of high priority to alleviate (Sethi, 2011, p.1).

Population Constraints to Food Security

            Establishing food security in India is challenged by human factors related to the nation’s population. In 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau reported India has the second largest population of any country, second only to China. During the last decade, India has added the combined population of six developed countries-Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the UK (Sethi, 2011, p.1). With approximately 1,189,172,900 people, India has a lot of mouths to feed (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011, p. 1). The rapid population increase has occurred without a corresponding addition of resources such as land, water, energy, or food and is a major factor slowing down India’s overall progress (Sethi, 2011, p.1).  Combined with current institutional and geographic constraints, India is challenged with providing and maintaining infrastructure and agricultural capabilities of a scale to complement its enormous population. Extensive development and resources will be necessary to have a reform of this scale be effective.

            In addition to the increasing size of India’s population, urbanization has also had an effect on the demand for food. The geographic displacement has caused a shift in the pattern of food consumption—more Indians desire fine, superior grains such as wheat and rice over coarse grains (Basu, 2006, p. 95). Currently rice production in India is only one-third of what has been achieved elsewhere (Lakshmanan, 2010, p. 1). This low productivity illustrates that India’s agriculture sector is currently incapable to meet consumer demands. The food Indians wish to consume is not available for them. Increasing India’s agricultural sector capabilities to produce adequate amounts of desired food will satisfy much of the population’s taste buds.

            Additionally, while some states, such as Kerala, enjoy a ninety percent literacy rate, other states lack this luxury. The eastern state of Bihar only has a literacy rate of forty-seven percent (Government of India, 2011, p. 1). Generally, men are more likely to be literate than women. In Bihar, for example, only thirty-seven percent of females are literate while nearly sixty percent of males are literate (Government of India, 2011, p. 1). Low literacy rates, as well as a commonly witnessed ‘ignorance’ of conservative outlooks, hinder the likelihood of adopting effective technological advancements in the agricultural sector. Particularly for those impoverished people living in rural areas, agriculture is the main source of income and employment (The World Bank, 2006, p. 1). ‘The Man behind the Plow’ ideology symbolizing masculinity and pride through means of physical labor deter many farmers from adopting technology to increase production.

Indian culture and the role of women also serve an interesting role in terms of providing adequate food to children. Many mothers acknowledge the fact that their child’s diet of flatbread, which in tribal villages is made over a cow-dung fire each day, may not be supplying necessary nourishment. However, in Indian culture as the male is the decision maker, mothers do not feel they have the authority to change the diet even if given the chance (Nolen, 2009, p. 6). Also, statistically nearly a third of Indian women themselves are underweight. This has led to further complications as a startling fifty-nine percent of pregnant women are anemic and give birth to low-birth-weight infants who have weak immune systems (Sofia Echo, 2011, p.1). 

Rising Food Prices

The World Bank reported nearly forty-four million people worldwide have been pushed into poverty by rising food prices since June of 2010 (The World Bank, 2011, p.1). Global food prices rose by 15 percent between October 2010 and January alone. Food costs are continuing to rise and will only create more devastating and lasting effects. The poor are most vulnerable to the pressure of price increases by being forced to spend generally more than half of their income on food.  This displays an aspect of gross inadequacy in consumers’ purchasing power constraining the development of food security.

India’s impoverished communities are predominantly affected as threateningly levels of inadequate productivity fail to improve. Until a balance between supply and demand can be stabilized, rising food prices will continue to further cripple the impoverished communities of India (Joshi, 2010, p. 1). The poor are forced to eat less and often less-nutritious food or starve, as seen with the high malnutrition rates visible in India today (Sofia Echo, 2011, p.1).

 In 2009, the Indian government announced plans to implement monthly allocations of rice and wheat to impoverished citizens at subsidized prices (Abrol, 2008, p. 80). Today, President Pratibha Patil has highlighted government efforts to provide huge incentives to farmers by hiking the minimum support price for various agricultural products and providing fertilizers at a subsidized price (Abrol, 2008, p. 80). These actions were implemented in hopes to address the underlying problem of poor productivity levels of the agriculture sector, yet only generated minimal results.

            India has received aid through a larger aid program, the Global Food Crisis Response Program. The program has made attempts to help dilute the effects of high food prices and impoverished populations by alleviating nearly forty million people in need with $1.5 billion in support (Sofia Echo, 2011, p.1). Of this amount, the United Kingdom (UK) provided over 280 million pounds in aid to India. Over the next four years, India will be the largest recipient of overseas aid from the UK by potentially receiving over one billion pounds (Sofia Echo, 2011, p. 1). As this foreign aid may alleviate some of India’s current woes, India should be cautious about becoming increasingly dependent on the United Kingdom.

Recommendations

            To address the consequences of population aspects and implications of rising food prices, the Indian government should utilize its already existent support program, Public Distribution System (PDS), more effectively. The mission of PDS is to distribute food-grains to consumers through an immense network of fair price shops at government issued fixed prices (Basu, 2006, p. 26). However, the government has overlooked a key determinant of food rations—income. Operating proportional quotas in reference to income bracket classifications will more appropriately allocate food to those who need it most. PDS should also focus on maintaining a buffer inventory of grains to meet demand through storage facilities.

Geographic & Climate Constraints

Challenges to establishing food security are both nationwide and region specific. The imbalance of food accessibility in northeast India in comparison to southern states can also be illustrated with opposing weather patterns. For instance, favorable monsoons in summer seasons in southwest India are essential for securing water for irrigation. However, some parts of India suffer failures of monsoons with water shortages and below-average crop yields (Sagar, 2004, p. 6). 

India’s vast variety in terrain makes for differing climatic conditions. These conditions range from permanent snowfields to tropical coasts, deserts, northwest fertile plains for farming, and northeast intensively cultivated rice fields (Sagar, 2004, p. 5). Varying terrains prove extremely difficult for maintaining consistency in agricultural productivity nationwide.

Many regions in India utilize rain-fed agriculture. These areas suffer heavily during times of drought. The availability of water has consistently declined per capita since the 1950s and is projected to continue to do so well through 2020 (Sagar, 2004, p. 10). Also, farmers face pressure on increased food prices with smaller harvests and costs for irrigated production. Rain-fed agriculture areas have been pressured to exploit groundwater through implementations of seed-water technology methods (Sagar, 2004, p. 15).

India’s radically sized population is pressuring the supply of natural resources rapidly. The depletion of groundwater in areas of dry land agriculture and deteriorating soil quality in areas of surface water irrigation are severe threats to maintaining food security.

Recommendations

            The most effective means of combating climate constraints of droughts and monsoons will be an extension of irrigation facilities. Irrigation improvements would help to create grain surpluses, stabilize food prices, sustain agricultural growth, absorb labor force in rural areas, and alleviate rural poverty (Kumar, 2003, p. 16). Additionally, operating effective draining systems will be able to improve conditions of soil erosion and fertilizer application by providing more fertile land options.

A positive externality of additional irrigation mechanisms is the possibility of different avenues of employment opportunities for those living in poverty.  The majority of the poor in rural areas depend on agriculture for employment and their livelihoods. The importance of agriculture in India’s economy’s development should not go overlooked to overall development.

            The Indian government should also focus promotional efforts on water conservation throughout the nation to better deal with drought damages. There is a growing need to manage water for agriculture as recent research has shown that the future water supplies are going to fall short of the demand from different sectors if India continues to follow the same policies of water resource development and water use as in the past (Kumar, 2003, p.18). The increasing urbanization and industrialization in India’s economic growth strategy will also create greater pressure for allocating water for industrial and municipal uses (Kumar, 2003, p.18).

 Policy reforms should be enacted for more efficient use of irrigation water regarding water pricing and ways to alleviate decentralized water management. Under the current pricing system for electricity in the farm sector, conventional water saving technologies only favor the rich and ignore a large percentage of Indian farmers (Kumar, 2004, p.30). Implementing nationally centralized efforts for water conservation and usage will provide a more balanced environment for the development of agricultural sectors across the nation. Adequate storage facilities for produce should also be implemented to avoid post-harvest losses for farmers.

Promoting infrastructural advancements for more open communication will foster the transition from hoarded technology benefits to a centralized sharing network in the industry. For instance, several southern states have implemented integrated pest management (IPM) programs. Other advancements including the incorporation of large networks of shallow tube well systems for irrigating rice has helped to produce record levels of harvest and efficient storage capabilities (Basu, 2006, p. 86).  However, increased levels of productivity cannot be witnessed across the entire nation as isolated states fail to communicate regularly.

Institutional Constraints

The predominant force behind India’s economic growth lies in the software and information technology sectors. However, in the process it has neglected the development of agriculture and importance of food security. Combining the success with information and communication systems with the agricultural sector should be of high importance for India as the agriculture sector accounts for twenty-four percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). (Rao, 2006, p. 491). Agriculture also employs nearly fifty-seven percent of the country’s workforce and a strong multiplier effect across India’s entire economy (Rao, 2006, p. 491).

Statistically, as economic development takes place, the income elasticity of demand for food will rise (Basu, 2006, p. 92). The Indian government failed to direct proportions of newly generated income from its growing economy back into food-grain production. If the government had done this, the agriculture industry would have been better equipped for the shift of the population consuming better food and more of it.

The absence of systematic planning for agricultural development from the Indian government is a large driving force behind the lack of productivity, low rural incomes, and the inability to grow to complement India’s increasing population. India’s current system offers a long and discontinuous supply chain, inadequate policy support, limited infrastructure for storage, transportation, and marketing of agricultural produce, and inefficient knowledge flows which have constrained agricultural development (Rao, 2006, p. 500).

 India’s inability to grow with continual stability will create bottlenecks and inflationary pressure within its own economy (Basu, 2006, p. 90). India’s central bank has played a large role in creating poverty and ultimately even deeper levels of food insecurity. In January of 2011, India’s benchmark interest rate increased to a two-year high and raised its inflation forecast. India has boosted its rates six times this last year; more than any central bank in Asia (MyPaper, 2011, p. 2). The increase has made borrowing more challenging and pushed further amounts of the population into poverty. Poor governance associated with the food administration and infrastructure has made the accessibility of providing food to the Indian population, particularly the poor, extremely strained.

Recommendations

The Indian government must focus on tackling both aspects of food security currently affecting the nation: quantity and quality. To establish food security nationally, sufficient infrastructure must be established for all states, from tribal dominated regions to modernized metropolises to benefit from India’s economic growth. It is essential for the government to develop a system that compliments regional diversities in climate and cultural conditions to foster food security and balanced population growth to maintain its overall economic growth.

            Farmers need to feel valued by the Indian government and encouraged to continually produce. The government should offer fair, adequate prices for products. If farmers feel they will receive good prices for their produce, they will be motivated to produce more goods and more often. Widespread, this will help improve agricultural productivity. Also, the government should offer subsidized technological advancements for agricultural production processes.

Conclusion

            To create sustainable growth, agricultural development should either precede or occur simultaneously with overall economic development to prepare a nation for growth. As India lacked this initial complementary development, the resulting outcomes of food security prove threatening for continually maintaining overall economic growth. The Indian government must provide increased accessibility of qualitative nourishment for its large impoverished population to combat rising food prices. Diverse climate and unique state income circumstances must be taken into account when rationalizing food quotas. Lastly, the Indian government should plan to systematically implement irrigation and infrastructure improvements. Successful efforts to establish food security in India will allow for continued, sustainable economic growth for the future of the nation.