Introduction to Food Security

What is Food Security?

Food is as essential for living as air is for breathing. However, food security means more than just getting two square meals. It has three key dimensions:

1. Availability of food: This refers to food production within the country, food imports, and the previous year's stock stored in government granaries.
2. Accessibility of food: This means that food is within the reach of every person.
3. Affordability of food: This implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs.

Thus, food security is ensured in a country only when enough food is available for all persons, all persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality, and there is no barrier to accessing food.

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Why is Food Security Necessary?

While the poorest section of society might be food insecure most of the time, even people above the poverty line can become food insecure during a national disaster or calamity like an earthquake, drought, flood, or tsunami.

During a natural calamity, total food grain production decreases, creating a shortage of food. This shortage leads to a rise in prices. At high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food. If such a calamity is widespread or lasts for a long time, it can cause a situation of starvation, which might turn into a famine.

A famine is characterized by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by the forced use of contaminated water or decaying food. The most devastating famine in India was the Famine of Bengal in 1943, which killed thirty lakh (3 million) people. While a famine of that scale has not happened again, famine-like conditions and starvation deaths have been reported in places like Kalahandi and Kashipur in Odisha in recent years. Therefore, food security is needed to ensure food is available to everyone at all times.

Who are Food-Insecure?

Although a large section of people in India suffer from food and nutrition insecurity, certain groups are disproportionately affected.

Vulnerable Groups in Rural and Urban Areas

• In Rural Areas: The worst-affected groups are landless people with little or no land, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers, and destitutes, including beggars.
• In Urban Areas: Food-insecure families are those whose working members are generally employed in ill-paid occupations and the casual labour market. These workers are often engaged in seasonal activities and are paid very low wages.

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Social Composition and Other Factors

• Social Composition: The SCs, STs, and some sections of the OBCs who have a poor land base or low land productivity are prone to food insecurity.
• Victims of Natural Disasters: People affected by natural disasters who have to migrate in search of work are also among the most food-insecure.
• Women and Children: A large proportion of pregnant and nursing mothers and children under the age of 5 constitute an important segment of the food-insecure population. A high incidence of malnutrition prevails among women, which puts even the unborn baby at risk.
• Regional Disparities: Food-insecure people are disproportionately large in economically backward states with high poverty, tribal and remote areas, and regions prone to natural disasters.

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Hunger: An Aspect of Food Insecurity

Hunger is another aspect that indicates food insecurity. It is not just an expression of poverty; it also brings about poverty. Hunger has two dimensions:

1. Chronic Hunger: This is a consequence of diets that are persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and/or quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of their very low income and inability to buy food even for survival.
2. Seasonal Hunger: This is related to the cycles of food growing and harvesting. It is prevalent in rural areas due to the seasonal nature of agriculture and in urban areas among casual labourers (e.g., construction workers during the rainy season).

India has seen a decline in both seasonal and chronic hunger over the years.

Food Security in India: Buffer Stock and Public Distribution System (PDS)

Achieving Self-Sufficiency in Food Grains

Since independence, Indian policymakers have aimed to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. A new strategy in agriculture, the 'Green Revolution', was adopted, which led to a dramatic increase in the production of wheat and rice. Since the early 1970s, the country has avoided famine even during adverse weather conditions and has become self-sufficient in food grains.

The availability of food grains at the country level has been ensured with a carefully designed food security system by the government, which has two main components: (a) buffer stock and (b) public distribution system.

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1. What is a Buffer Stock?

A Buffer Stock is the stock of food grains, namely wheat and rice, procured by the government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

• The FCI purchases wheat and rice from farmers in states where there is surplus production.
• Farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops, known as the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The MSP is declared by the government every year before the sowing season to provide incentives to farmers.
• The purchased food grains are stored in granaries.

The buffer stock is created to distribute food grains in deficit areas and among the poorer sections of society at a price lower than the market price (known as the Issue Price). It also helps to resolve the problem of food shortages during adverse weather conditions or calamities.

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2. What is the Public Distribution System (PDS)?

The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government-regulated ration shops among the poorer sections of society. This system is called the Public Distribution System (PDS).

• Ration shops, also known as Fair Price Shops, are present in most localities and keep stocks of food grains, sugar, and kerosene.
• 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 their nearby ration shop.

There are three kinds of ration cards:

1. Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the poor.
2. BPL cards for those below the poverty line.
3. APL cards for all others.

Current Status and Evolution of the Public Distribution System

Current Status of the PDS

The Public Distribution System (PDS) is the most important step taken by the Government of India towards ensuring food security. The policy related to PDS has been revised over the years to make it more efficient and targeted.

Evolution of PDS Schemes

Scheme	Year of Introduction	Coverage Target Group	Latest Volume per Household/Person
PDS	Up to 1992	Universal (for all)	-
Revamped PDS (RPDS)	1992	Backward blocks	20 kg of food grains
Targeted PDS (TPDS)	1997	Poor (BPL) and non-poor (APL)	35 kg of food grains (for BPL)
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)	2000	Poorest of the poor	35 kg of food grains
Annapurna Scheme (APS)	2000	Indigent senior citizens	10 kg of food grains (Free)
National Food Security Act (NFSA)	2013	Priority households (covers 75% of rural and 50% of urban population)	5 kg per person per month

Initially, the PDS was universal. The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), introduced in 1997, was the first time a differential price policy was adopted for the poor and non-poor. Further schemes like AAY and APS were launched to target specific vulnerable groups. The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, marked a paradigm shift, providing a legal right to food for a large section of the population.

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Criticism of the PDS

Despite its successes, the PDS has faced severe criticism on several grounds:

• Overflowing Granaries and Hunger: Instances of hunger are prevalent despite overflowing FCI godowns. High levels of buffer stocks are undesirable and can be wasteful, leading to rotting grains and high carrying costs.
• Inefficient Distribution: PDS dealers are sometimes found resorting to malpractices like diverting grains to the open market, selling poor quality grains, and irregular opening of shops.
• Pressure from Surplus States: The increased procurement at enhanced MSPs is often a result of pressure from a few food grain-producing states like Punjab and Haryana.
• Distortion of Cropping Patterns: The focus on procuring wheat and rice at high MSPs has induced farmers in surplus states to divert land from coarse grains (the staple food of the poor) to rice and wheat. This has also led to environmental degradation due to the intensive use of water.
• Decline of PDS for APL families: Under TPDS, the price for Above Poverty Line (APL) families is almost as high as the open market price, giving them little incentive to buy from ration shops.

Role of Cooperatives in Food Security and Conclusion

Role of Cooperatives in Food Security

In addition to the government, cooperatives also play an important role in food security in India, especially in the southern and western parts of the country.

• Cooperative societies set up shops to sell low-priced goods to poor people. For example, in Tamil Nadu, around 94% of all fair price shops are run by cooperatives.
• Mother Dairy in Delhi is a success story in providing milk and vegetables at controlled rates.
• Amul from Gujarat is another success story of cooperatives in milk and milk products, which brought about the White Revolution in the country.
• In Maharashtra, the Academy of Development Science (ADS) has facilitated a network of NGOs to set up Grain Banks in different regions. These Grain Banks are an innovative food security intervention.

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Conclusion

Food security is a multi-dimensional issue that requires a robust system to ensure the availability, accessibility, and affordability of food for all people at all times. India's food security system, built on the twin pillars of a buffer stock and the Public Distribution System (PDS), has been instrumental in achieving self-sufficiency in food grains and averting widespread famine and hunger.

The Green Revolution laid the foundation by dramatically increasing food production. The PDS has evolved from a universal system to a targeted one, with the National Food Security Act, 2013, making access to food a legal right. However, the system faces significant challenges, including inefficiencies, storage issues, and distortions in agricultural practices. Cooperatives and other community-based initiatives, like Grain Banks, are playing a vital supplementary role in ensuring food security at the local level. Addressing the shortcomings of the PDS and strengthening these alternative models will be crucial for eliminating hunger and malnutrition in India.

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