Challenges to food security

Author(s): Shashi Vemuri

 Food security is access to enough food by all people at all time for an active and healthy life. As per FAO Food security existswhen all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. An increasing global population, in combination with climate change is a threat to food security as arable land becomes more scarce. The global population which is 6.1 billion by 2000 is projected as 9 billion by 2050. The growth in the agriculture sector is an effective tool to achieve food security and reduce poverty. Investing more funds in agricultural research and development are key for increasing agricultural productivity. For achieving zero hunger Governments and the private sector need to reenergize their science and technology research capacities. Otherwise global efforts to achieve the zero hunger 2030 could fall short. Worldwide Investment in agricultural sciences is on the decline for many years. We need 60 percent more food to feed a hungry world by 2050 to meet 9 B. This needs to come from smallholder farmers who produce a majority of the world’s food. Efforts to leverage science and technology in the field of agriculture must involve everyone. Need to develop the capacity for innovation in small holder farmers. The skills and capacities of all key players involved in all aspects of the agricultural innovation system must be upgraded through education and training at all levels. Small holder farmers need an enabling environment for innovation including good governance, stable macro economic conditions, transparent legal and regulatory regimes, secure property rights, risk management tools and market infrastructure, India is truly developing now and income, infrastructure, per capita income has also developed. However the major problem is food management and it’s distribution. Most efforts to reduce hunger concentrate more on agricultural production. Food losses due to a variety of issues are addressed less (biological, chemical and physical forces). Despite ensuring ample availability of food, existence of food insecurity at the micro-level in the country has remained a formidable challenge for India. Malnutrition and poverty are the main causes for the adoption of food security in India. Globalization may and may not help food security. Many people feel that globalization will definitely help food security due to trade but its matter of debate.

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