Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 Notes - Food Security in India

Introduction

What is food security? 

Food security goes beyond having just two square meals; it's about ensuring that everyone has reliable access to enough food for a healthy life. It emphasizes the importance of making sure people can consistently get the food they need to live well. 

Food security has the following dimensions:

• Availability of food production within the country, food imports, and the previous years stock stored in government granaries.
• Accessibility means food is within reach of every person.
• Affordability implies that a person has enough money to buy sufficient nutritious and safe food to meet one’s dietary needs. Thus, food security is ensured in a country only if:
  (i) Enough food is available for all the people.
  (ii) All persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality.
  (iii) There is no barrier to access to food.

Why Food Security? 

• Overpopulation: The population of India is increasing at a very fast rate. the population of India has increased from 361 million in 1951 to 1027 million in 2001.
• Reduction in the net sown area under cereals: There has been a gradual shift from the cultivation of food crops to the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, and other cash crops, which also act as an industrial raw material; This has led to the reduction in net sown area under cereals, millets, and pulses.
• Hoarding and black marketing: There is a continuous tendency on the part of traders in India to hoard food grains and to accentuate the shortage of food grains in order to push up the prices to reap extraordinary profits.
• Reduction of land under cultivation: The use of more and more land for the construction of factories, warehouses, and shelters has reduced the land under cultivation, and new fertile land for framing is no longer available.
• Corrupt administrative practices: The government has imposed various measures like price controls, rationing, zoning, surprise checks, etc. but as the administrative machinery in India is totally corrupt, these measures fail to reap any benefit to the general masses of the country.
• Natural calamities: Natural calamities like earthquakes, drought, floods, tsunamis, famine, etc. can also adversely affect the folding security of the country.

How is Food Security affected during a Calamity?

• Food security means that everyone has access to enough safe and nutritious food for a healthy life.
• Natural disasters, like drought, can reduce food production, leading to shortages in the affected areas.
• When food is scarce, prices rise, making it hard for some people to afford food.
• Long-lasting or widespread disasters can lead to starvation and possibly famine.
• Famine involves many deaths from starvation and diseases from bad water or spoiled food.
• Being starved for a long time weakens the body, worsening famine effects.
• Areas like Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa have faced famine-like situations with reported starvation deaths.
• Ongoing food security measures are vital to ensure a steady food supply and stop hunger and famine from happening.
• Policies like buffer stocks and minimum support prices are key to maintaining food security during disasters.

Food security is not just about having food; it’s also about access and how it is used. Vulnerable groups, like landless workers and those without steady jobs, often suffer the most during disasters.

Who are Food-insecure?

• In India, the groups most affected include landless individuals who lack land, traditional craftsmen, service providers, small self-employed workers, and the destitute, including beggars.
• In urban settings, food insecure families often consist of working members in poorly paid jobs and casual labour. These individuals typically participate in seasonal work and earn very low wages that barely cover basic survival.
• Social factors and the inability to afford food also contribute to food insecurity.
• Those from Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and some sections of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) with either limited land access or low land productivity face heightened food insecurity.
• Individuals affected by natural disasters who migrate for work are also among the most food insecure.
• There is a significant level of malnutrition among women, which is concerning as it endangers even the unborn child with the risk of malnutrition.
• Hunger is another factor that indicates food insecurity. It is not merely a sign of poverty; it also perpetuates poverty.
• Achieving food security requires eliminating current hunger and minimising the risk of future hunger.
• The National Health and Family Survey (NHFS) 1998-99 indicates that around 11 crore women and children are affected by food insecurity.

Which States are more Food Insecure?

Regions with High Food Insecurity

• Food insecurity is significantly higher in certain areas, particularly in economically disadvantaged states, tribal and remote regions, and areas susceptible to natural disasters.
• The states of Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern regions), Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have the largest number of food insecure individuals.

Groups Most Affected

• The most affected groups include landless or land-poor households in rural settings.
• People in poorly paid jobs and casual workers involved in seasonal labour in urban areas are also heavily impacted.

Government Initiatives for Food Security

• The Indian government has developed a food security system consisting of two main parts: a buffer stock and a public distribution system (PDS).
• In addition to the PDS, various poverty alleviation initiatives support food security, including:
  -Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
  -Food-for-Work (FFW)
  -Mid-Day Meals
  -Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

Hunger

Hunger is another aspect indicating food insecurity. Hunger is not just an expression of poverty, it brings about poverty. The attainment of food security, therefore, involves eliminating current hunger and reducing the risk of future hunger. Hunger has chronic and seasonal dimensions.

• Seasonal Hunger: Seasonal hunger is related to the cycle of food growing and harvesting. During off season, prices of foodgrains become high or there can be shortage of foodgrains. This situation leads to seasonal hunger. This type of hunger exists when a person is unable to get work for the entire year
• Chronic Hunger: Chronic hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quality. The basic cause of chronic hunger is very low income. The type of hunger exists when a person is unable to get work for the entire year.     

India has been aiming at Self-sufficiency in Foodgrains since its Independence

• After independence, Indian policymakers adopted all measures to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in the ‘Green Revolution’, especially in the production of wheat and rice.
• Since the advent of the Green Revolution in the early '70s, the country has avoided famine even during adverse weather conditions.

Impact of Green Revolution

• The success of the Green Revolution has made India self-sufficient in good grains.
• Because of the Green Revolution, there was an increase in the production of wheat and rice.
• A higher rate of growth was achieved in Punjab and Haryana.
• Tami Nadu and Andhra Pradesh recorded a significant increase in rice yield.
• The increase in the production of food grains helps the Government to build buffer stock.
• This buffer stock led to food security.

Food Security in India

India has become self-sufficient in foodgrains during the thirty years because of a variety of crops grow in the whole country. The availability of food grains at the country level has further been ensured with a carefully designed food system. This system has two components: (a) Buffer Stock (b) Public Distribution System.

What is Buffer Stock?

Buffer stock means the reserves of food grains, especially wheat and rice, acquired by the government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Procurement Process:

• The FCI buys food grains from farmers in regions with excess production.
• Farmers receive a pre-announced price for their crops, known as the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
• The government announces the MSP yearly before the sowing season to promote greater crop yield.

Storage: The acquired food grains are kept in granaries.

Purpose of Buffer Stock:

• Distribution: To provide food grains in areas with shortages and to poorer communities at a price lower than the market rate, called the Issue Price.
• Crisis Management: To tackle food shortages during bad weather or disasters.

Besides the government's efforts to ensure food security, various cooperatives and NGOs also actively contribute to this goal.

What is Public Distribution System (PDS)?

The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government-regulated ration shops among the poorer section of society. This is called the Public Distribution System (PDS). Ration shops are now present in most localities, villages, towns, and cities. There are about 4.6 lakh ration shops all over the country. Rations shops also known as Fair Price Shops, keep stock of foodgrains, sugar, and kerosene oil for cooking. These items are sold to people at a price lower than the market price. Any family with a ration card can buy a stipulated amount of these items every month from the nearby ration shops.

History of Rationing in India

The introduction of Rationing in India dates back to the 1940s against the backdrop of the Bengal Famine. The rationing system was revived in the wake of an acute food shortage during the 1960s, prior to the Green Revolution. In the wake of the high incidence of poverty levels, as reported by NSSO in the mid-1970s, three important food intervention programs were introduced.

• Public Distribution System for Foodgrains (in existence earlier but strengthened thereafter).
• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) introduced in 1975 on an experimental basis.
• Food-for-work programme introduced in 1977-78.
• At present, there are several Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAPs), mostly in rural areas, which have an explicit food component also. While some of the programmes such as PDS, mid-day meals etc. are exclusively food security Programmers, most of the PAPs also enhance food security.

National Food Security Act, 2013
The Act aims to provide food and nutritional security at affordable prices, ensuring that people can live a life with dignity. 75% of the rural population is categorized as eligible for food security & 50% of the urban population is categorized as eligible for food security.

Purpose:To guarantee access to food and nutritional security for a significant portion of the population, promoting equitable distribution and reducing hunger.

Current States of Public Distribution System

• In 1992, Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was introduced in 1,700 blocks in the country. the target was to provide the benefits of PDS to remote and backward areas.
• Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced to adopt the principle of targeting the ‘poor in all areas’. it was for the first time that a differential price was adopted for the poor and non-poor.
• Two special schemes were launched in 2000. (a) Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) (b) Annapurna Scheme (APS) with special target groups of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘indigent senior citizens.

National Food for Work Programme

• Launched on November 14, 2004, in the 150 most backward districts.
• Aims to intensify supplementary wage employment generation.
• Open to all rural poor seeking manual unskilled work.
• Implemented as a 100% centrally sponsored scheme.
• States receive free food grains to support the program.
• The Collector at the district level is the nodal officer with various responsibilities.
• Allocation for 2004-05: Rs 2,020 crore and 20 lakh tonnes of food grains.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

Launched in December 2000, this scheme aimed to support one crore of the poorest families identified under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) survey within the targeted public distribution system. State rural development departments conducted the survey to pinpoint eligible families. Initially, 25 kilograms of food grains were provided at highly subsidized rates of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice. The allotment increased to 35 kgs in April 2002. The scheme expanded twice, adding 50 lakh BPL families in June 2003 and August 2004, reaching a total of 2 crore covered families under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). 

Achievement of Public Distribution System

• The PDS has proved to be the most effective instrument of government policy over the years in stabilizing prices and making food available to consumers at affordable prices.
• The system, including the minimum support price and procurement, has contributed to an increase in food grain production and provided income security to farmers in certain regions.

Problem Associated with Public Distribution System

• There is a general consensus that a high level of buffer stocks of food grains is very undesirable and can be wasteful. the storage of massive food stocks has been responsible for high carrying costs, in addition to wastage and deterioration in grain quality.
• The increase in food grain procurement at enhanced MSP is the result of the pressure exerted by leading foodgrain-producing states, such as Punjab, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh.
• PDS dealers are sometimes found resorting to malpractices like diverting the grains to the open market to get a better margin, selling poor quality grains at ration shops, the irregular opening of the shops, etc.

Role of Cooperatives in Food Security   

• Cooperatives play a significant role in ensuring food security in India, particularly in the southern and western regions.
• These cooperative societies establish shops that offer affordable goods to those in need.
• In Delhi, Mother Dairy is successfully providing milk and vegetables to consumers at prices set by the Government of Delhi. Amul, based in Gujarat, has also been instrumental in the dairy sector, contributing to the White Revolution in India.
• In Maharashtra, the Academy of Development Science (ADS) has created a network of NGOs to establish grain banks across various regions.
• ADS conducts training and capacity-building programmes focused on food security for these NGOs.
• The establishment of grain banks is gradually progressing in Maharashtra, with ADS's initiatives to replicate this model through other NGOs and influence government food security policies yielding positive results.

Challenges and Government Initiatives

Food security in India faces obstacles, especially in economically disadvantaged states, tribal areas, and regions affected by natural disasters. To ensure that food is available to everyone, the Indian government has created a food security system with two main parts: (a) buffer stock and (b) public distribution system. Alongside the PDS, various poverty alleviation schemes support food security, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).

In addition to government efforts, numerous cooperatives and NGOs are actively working towards enhancing food security.

Key Terms

Difficult Words

1. Food Security: Food security means that everyone can get enough food that is safe and healthy, all the time. It ensures that people have access to food that meets their needs for a healthy life.
2. Public Distribution System (PDS): This is a government scheme in India designed to provide food and other necessary items to poor people at lower prices. It is vital for helping those who struggle economically.
3. Buffer Stock: This is the stock of essential food items, mainly wheat and rice, that the government keeps to help manage food prices and ensure that there is food available during tough times.
4. Hoarding and Black Marketing: These are actions where people stock up on goods to create artificial shortages, which can lead to higher prices. Such practices can make food harder to get and more expensive for everyone.
5. Calamity and Its Impact on Food Security: Natural disasters, like droughts and floods, can severely reduce food production and distribution, which leads to food shortages and increased risk of hunger among the population.
6. Vulnerable Groups: These are people at higher risk of food insecurity, including landless workers, small farmers, women (especially those who are pregnant or nursing), and the elderly, mainly due to economic hardships.
7. Nutritional Security: This goes beyond just having enough food; it ensures regular access to nutritious food that includes necessary vitamins and minerals for good health.
8. Seasonal Hunger: This type of food insecurity relates to the times of the year when food is scarce, especially affecting agricultural workers who may not have jobs during the off-season.
9. Chronic Hunger: This is a long-term lack of adequate nutrition, both in quality and quantity, often tied to ongoing poverty and malnutrition.
10. Food-for-Work Programme: This is a government programme where people receive food in exchange for their labour on public projects, especially during times of food shortages.
11. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): This government initiative provides highly subsidised food to the poorest families, as part of the Public Distribution System to help reduce hunger and poverty.
12. Green Revolution: This term describes a series of developments in agriculture from the 1940s to the late 1960s that boosted food production worldwide, particularly in India, through better seeds and farming techniques.
13. National Food Security Act (NFSA): This law in India aims to provide subsidised food to around two-thirds of the population through the Targeted Public Distribution System, improving food and nutrition security.
14. Minimum Support Price (MSP): This is a government policy to protect farmers from falling prices by guaranteeing a minimum price for their crops, announced at the start of the planting season based on expert recommendations.