It is almost surreal to think that food security and chronic under-nutrition are still huge problems in our world today. For those of us lucky enough to be far removed from such basic issues of survival, our world can seem like a picture of empowerment and possibilities. This is especially why, the persistence of hunger – by the hundreds of millions – is unforgivable to me. It boggles the mind that so many of us are still deprived of the most essential needs of life, in this day and age. In the case of India, this is a particularly stark contrast that should worry us.
I am an optimist by nature, who tends to see the world in terms of possibilities. I am also a huge believer in the transformative power of science and technology. Ever since I can remember, I have been interested in finding out about new breakthroughs that promise to replace shortages with abundance and better living for all. This is why I’m filled with sadness, whenever I take the time to consider that issues like hunger and food security remain prevalent in our world. To me, this is a damning fact that none of us can afford to be comfortable with. There is no question in my mind that not a single human being on the planet should be deprived of an adequate diet, in our world. Even with the existing infrastructure and economy of the world, changing just a few choices could result in this outcome. For instance, how can it be that India, the world’s fastest growing large economy, also has around one fourth of the cases of chronic – malnutrition among children, in the world? To me, this indicates a world being run on the basis of bad priorities. Frankly, I find this state of affairs immoral.
We must admit to ourselves that we are currently failing to address the problem
One of the most heartbreaking statistics I came across last year was that 2018 was the third year in a row, in which the absolute numbers of undernourished people in the world increased! In fact, if memory serves me, 2018 saw these numbers return to being as high as a decade ago. It would be an understatement to say that I find such news extremely disappointing and worrying. South America and Africa were the two continents driving this trend in the world. Many of the countries where the absolute numbers in hunger have risen are undergoing economic stress. Within the Indian context, the worry is that macroeconomic stress is not a defining issue, although more widespread economic opportunities appear to be. While the percentage of undernourished Indians has dropped dramatically in the last decade or so, the continuation of significant absolute numbers of malnourished individuals is a cause of great concern from my perspective. What makes it worse is that India has the largest amount of arable land in the world, of any country!
How we can rethink the solution
Himalayan communities present an interesting and complex picture of factors that influence food security. Per-capita food consumption in this region is – predictably – lower than what is typical for more economically secure populations. However, the poorest sections of the population are relatively more food secure than many comparable communities, in several other parts of South Asia. I have come across studies that attribute this to remote populations being forced to be more self-reliant. In fact, one of these studies pointed out that encouraging farmers to grow more ‘commercial’ crops in the area actually resulted in less food security than traditional subsistence farming practices. These outcomes prove that the challenges are complex and overly simplistic magic-bullet solutions do not exist.
India’s struggle to eradicate hunger and malnutrition is indicative of the fact that these crises are not solely the result of a lack of produce. As a country, India has surpluses in virtually all essential foods, but malnutrition persists because people are too poor to afford an adequate diet. The issue, therefore, is multi-faceted. Factors from lack of availability in specific areas, inadequate infrastructure to transport food, wasteful distribution and storage practices and poverty are all contributing factors that fail the more vulnerable sections of the population. All across South Asia, there have been efforts in the past, to create food banks within vulnerable communities that help tide over times of need and periods between harvests. Unfortunately, these initiatives have remained test-cases and isolated instances. I believe securing such initiatives as widespread and commonplace community resources, in conjunction with water management, health and education need to be pursued on a ‘war-footing’, in keeping with an ethical approach to our commitment to our fellow human beings. In addition, establishing robust mechanisms for effective storage within, and free movement between, vulnerable communities can radically transform their food security profile, by creating mutually reinforcing mechanisms.
In addition to community scale interventions, more centralized and technology driven initiatives also require further reinforcement. As is often the case, some of the most fundamental problems in our world are best addressed using the innovations that technology has made possible. India is blessed with a wide range of climates, soil types and a bank of both traditional and modern seeds that dwarfs the selections available to other countries. A nationwide technology enabled network, which monitors the combination of resources likely to result in the highest yield, could produce dramatic results. Storage and transport are just as crucial as production and this is another aspect that technology can radically improve.
Targeted public-private partnerships have been some of the more noticeable success stories in the India of recent years, especially in the development of roads, transport and energy generation. In my opinion, the success of the model in these areas of the economy bears investigation in the realm of infrastructure that promotes food security as well. A cooperative and interdependent model of this nature does have challenges. It will require the laboratories of many independent agricultural institutes to cooperate, including sharing intellectual property. The governments of states ruled by political rivals will need to cooperate with each other by trading surpluses and creating other dependencies. Resolving such differences can not only be achieved, it is the only moral and righteous option for us to take.
Leverage strengths to expand possibilities
The Indian states of Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh have benefited from a return to traditional agricultural practices in recent years, so I’m not proposing that we rely on technology alone. The need of the hour is to maximize the impact of all the resources, labour and land that goes into food production in India. Whatever approach can create a holistically positive and abundant outcome in a particular instance, needs to be supported. Nevertheless, technology is the best option to create an optimized outcome that leverages the strengths of each individual element. At the localized level as well, technology offers us opportunities to take unprecedented routes to increase production. It can help us grow food using soil-less agriculture in urban environments. Greenhouses can make the previously unthinkable possible in hostile climates. Recent innovations like hybrid varieties of vegetables that can grow using saline water can reduce the impact on freshwater resources.
As I said at the outset, for hunger to exist in our world today is nothing short of immoral. In the case of food security a new and more inclusive approach is essential. I believe the time has come to truly think outside the box and bring together all the many diverse approaches that are being applied to address the issue, into one mutually synergistic and coherent system. Issues as varied as health, individual well-being, optimal economic productivity and even national security are directly linked to food security and the eradication of malnutrition. However, what is most crucial, in my opinion, is that addressing these concerns is fundamental if a nation is to thrive as a truly civilized society.
