Food security means :

0 availability,

0 accessibility and

0 affordability of food to all people at all times.

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Food Security is ensured in a country only if

0 Enough food is available for all the persons

0 All persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality and

0 There is no barrier on access to food.

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Need for Food Security:

0 For the poor sections of the society

0 Natural disasters or calamity like earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami,

0 Widespread crop failure due to drought

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How drought affects food security Drought takes place

Total production of food

grains

Shortage of food in the affected areas

Prices

Some people cannot afford to buy food = Food

Insecurity 5

Starvation

0 If such calamity happens in a very wide spread area or is stretched over a longer time period, it may cause a situation of starvation.

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Famine 0 A massive starvation might take a turn of famine.

0 A Famine is characterized by

1. widespread deaths and

2. epidemics

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Famines and Starvation Deaths in India

0 Bengal Famine, 1943 -killed 1.5 million to 3 million 0 The Bihar famine, 1966-7 - 2,353 deaths due to starvation reported Starvation deaths have also been reported in: 1. Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa 2. Baran district of Rajasthan, 3. Palamau district of Jharkhand and many other remote areas during the recent years.

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Food Insecure Groups

Worst Affected Groups:

0 landless people

0 traditional artisans

0 traditional services providers

0 petty self-employed workers

0 Homeless, beggars etc.

0 Families employed in ill-paid occupations

0 casual labourers (seasonal activities+ very low wages)

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0 SCs, STs and some sections of the OBCs (lower castes among them) –having poor land-base or very low land productivity

0 Migrants ( as a result of natural disasters )

0 Women and children

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States facing problem of food insecurity

0 Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern parts), Bihar,

0 Jharkhand,

0 Orissa,

0 West Bengal,

0 Chattisgarh,

0 parts of Madhya Pradesh and

0 Maharasthra

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Hunger, another aspect of Food Insecurity

Inadequate diet for a long time

Poor people suffer from chronic hunger

Chronic Hunger Due agricultural

activities-rural regions & urban

areas- casual labour

When a person is unable to get work for the entire year

Seasonal Hunger

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India’s attempts at attaining Food Security

Highest Growth

Punjab and Haryana

Tamil Nadu and Andhra

Pradesh

Low Growth

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh

Bihar, Orissa and the N-E

states

Green Revolution: Foodgrain Production

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India’s Food Security System

Buffer Stock

Public Distribution System

Food Security

System of India

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How the Public Distribution System works:

Farmers or Producers

States

Fair Price Shops

F.C.I (maintains

Buffer Stocks)

Grains MSP

Allocates Grains

Central Issue Price

C.I.P Distributes Grains

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Government schemes

0 PDS (initial Public Distribution System scheme)

0 RPS (Revamped Public Distribution System)

0 TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System)

Special Schemes:

0 AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana)

0 APS (Annapurna Scheme)

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Benefits from the PDS:

0 Stabilizes prices of food grains

0 Makes food available at affordable prices

0 By supplying food from surplus regions of the country to the deficit ones, it helps in combating hunger and famine

0 Prices set with poor households in mind

0 Provides income security to farmers in certain regions

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Problems faced by PDS:

0 Problem of Hunger still exists in many areas of India

0 Food stock in granaries often above specified levels

0 Deterioration in quality of stored food grains if kept for longer time

0 High storage costs

0 Increase in MSP has led to shift from coarse grain to rice and wheat production among the farmers

0 Cultivation of rice has also led to environmental degradation and fall in the water level

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0 Average consumption of PDS grain at the all-India level is very low

0 Malpractices on part of PDS dealers:

Diverting the grains to open market to get better margin,

Selling poor quality grains at ration shops,

Irregular opening of the shops

0 Low Income families earning just above poverty line have to pay APL rates which are almost equal to open market rates – lower incentive to buy from Fair Price Shops

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