Food Insecurity In India

Context

The report titled the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World revealed the food security status in India.

Background

Covid-19 and the ensuing global economic crisis have demonstrated that the world is unprepared for food security. The UN’s recent report ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020’ projected that the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Zero Hunger by 2030 will not be met. While India’s public health challenge is by far the biggest in these times, the food insecurity hurdle has also been looming in the background, threatening to become much bigger.

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Food Security

The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the pandemic. A disruption in accessing foodgrains might also mean that the gains India has had in its fight against malnutrition among vulnerable groups like women and children might be lost. Almost 194.4 million people in India are undernourished, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 report by the FAO.

About the report

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is an annual flagship report jointly prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO to inform on progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and to provide in depth analysis on key challenges for achieving this goal in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The report targets a wide audience, including policy-makers, international organizations, academic institutions and the general public.

It considers two key measures of food insecurity

1. Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU)
2. Prevalence of Moderate and Severe Food Insecurity (PMSFI).

PoU focused on estimating the proportion of population facing chronic deficiency of calories, its estimates are based on food balance sheets and national surveys of consumption. While PMSFI is a more comprehensive measure of the lack of access to adequate and nutritious food, it is based on annual surveys that collect information on experiences of food insecurity (such as food shortages, skipping meals, and changing diet diversity because of a lack of resources). The PMSFI uses the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), food security measurement developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), for estimating globally-comparable prevalence rates.

Given the solid conceptual foundations of this methodology and the ease of collection of data, FIES and the PMFSI have been widely adopted by countries across the world.

Many countries have started conducting their own FIES surveys, but India neither conducts official FIES surveys nor accepts estimates based on FAO-GWP surveys.

India's Data in the Report

• Report says that the India’s population suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity raised from 27.8% (2014-16) to 31.6% in 2017-19. Food insure people grow from 42.65 crore in 2014-16 to 48.86 crore in 2017-19.
• The report further specified that India accounted for 22% of the global burden of food insecurity, the highest for any country, in 2017-19.

Government Measures

The Central Government recently announced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) will be extended till November. Free grain is being distributed to ensure the poorest of the poor are not left hungry. This scheme was touted as a response against the pandemic and was supposed to cost Rs 1.7 lakh crore to the exchequer.

Even though it is one of the biggest food security schemes in the world in terms of scale, a lot of hurdles appeared in its implementation.

While the government has claimed that many states had requested the Centre for the scheme’s extension, data shows that 11 states have distributed less than 1% of the foodgrains they lifted from the reserves. Almost 8 lakh tonnes of foodgrains had been allocated for distribution under the scheme in March, but the states were able to distribute only 1.07 lakh tonnes of that till May. The delay has been attributed to supply chain disruptions; states like Goa and Telangana have claimed there is no one eligible to receive the foodgrains since migrant workers have moved out.

Conclusion and Way Forward

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) states that the four pillars of food security are availability, access, stability and utilisation. While the government is ensuring availability, access to foodgrains and utilisation are the areas that need the government’s immediate attention.

Even though there have been vast improvements in the public distribution system, the government needs to keep improving its distribution mechanism and solutions to the existing gaps need to be found soon. The FAO recommends improved information systems and collaborating with the private sector to solve distribution problems. Inter-state collaboration and learning can be a viable solution.

Simultaneously, India should work expeditiously to accept the global standards for survey of food insecurity to get the real picture that will helpful in making concreate policies.

Connecting the Article

Question for Prelims

With reference to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It is released annually by the World Economic Forum.
2. It provides an in-depth analysis on key challenges for achieving food security.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Question for Mains

“To ensure food security in the long-term, India would do well to expand its social protection measures to ensure that the vulnerable are included in the food distribution system across all states”, Comment.