Food Security situation in India

Ranjani.K.Murthy and Mercy Kappen

Objectives

Understand food security

• Objective 1

Understand food security situation in India

• Objective 2

Task

• Brainstorm in small groups the definition of food security

Definition

• There is no straightforward, universally accepted definition of food security. Most versions stipulate secure access to sufficient, affordable and good quality nutritious food. Such conditions for food security can be assessed on any scale, from a single household to the global population.

Three pillars of Food security

Production Access Utilization

Chronic and acute food insecurity

Constant condition of mild hunger

Chronic food

insecurity Serious condition of hunger

Indicators such as mortality cross threshold levels

Acute food

insecurity

Group task

– Draw a map of their state and discuss which parts are food secure and insecure and why and whether it is only risk of hunger or they are vulnerable to chronic or acute food insecurity,

– Assess which households are food insecure and whether it is only risk of hunger or they are vulnerable to chronic or acute food insecurity,

– Assess who in the household is food insecure and whether it is only risk of hunger or they are vulnerable to chronic or acute food insecurity

Food security situation within states

Backward areas and slums fare worse on food security

LL, MF, SF , migrants etc fare worse on food security

Dalits, Adivasis & minorities fare worse on food security

Women and girls fare worse

Food security situation in states

• India’s Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2008 score is 23.7, which gives it an abysmal rank of 66 out of 88 countries.

• The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has formulated India State Hunger Index along the lines of Global Hunger index taking three criteria: inadequate consumption, child underweight, and child mortality

• The 17 states covered by the IFPRI score worse than the “low” and “moderate” hunger categories as per the India state Hunger Index (ISHI).

Food security situation in states

Extremely

alarming• MP

Alarming• TN., Karnataka, Maharashtra,

Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Gujarat, WB Bengal, Bihar, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan

Serious• Punjab, AP

Kerala, and Assam

Food security situation in states

• There is lack of a clear relationship between state-level economic growth and hunger.

• A closer examination of these states’ past and current investments in social protection, health, and nutrition programs can help inform the debate about policy instruments to protect populations against hunger even in the face of poverty.

Food security situation in India

• The first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) falls short of aspirations to achieve food security by seeking only to reduce by half the proportion of the world’s population experiencing hunger.

• Between 1991 and 2007 the percentage of Indian population undernourished declined from 20% to only 19% far short of what is required to achieve the target of 10%.

• The proportion of children under five years who are underweight fell in between 1992 and 2006 from 52.8% to only 43.5%. Again this is far short of what is required to achieve the target of 26.4% by 2015.