Dr.Banarsi Lal and Dr. Vikas Tandon
India has achieved self-sufficiency in food grains with the green revolution technology. In India, food security was placed as a national objective much earlier than other developed and developing countries. India now has greater share of the world’s poor people than thirty years ago. Now, India has one third of world’s poor people as recorded by the World Bank. About 35 per cent of the households below the poverty line are headed by women. In India, around 88 per cent of pregnant women suffer with anaemia. Women’s role in the production of major food grains and minor millets illustrates their contribution to the food security. Women also ensure supply of food as food vendors and post-harvest processors. As major meal makers, women ensure food security. Women provide the nutrition to the young children. Women are the major decision-makers in ensuring food to the next generation. India today is not only self-sufficient in food grain production but also has a substantial reserve. The progress in agriculture during the last four decades is the biggest success story of independent India. Agriculture and allied activities constitute the single largest contributor to the gross domestic product. In India, about two-third of the work force depends on agriculture.
Despite these impressive gains, India at present is in the midst of a paradoxical situation. On one hand there are record food grain stocks and on the other hand over 250 million of India’s people are underfed. There is need to bridge this gap. India has a potential to meet these challenges. This potential can be realized through policy and infrastructure support from the government and by strengthening proactive synergies among various sectors. With the following suggestions sustainable agriculture and food security can be achieved.
Agriculture is an integral part of general development system, serving the system as a whole. The sustainability of agriculture is affected by the other sections of the development. Agriculture centers on integrated use of natural resources such as soil, biological diversity, water etc. The integration of agriculture with the other aspects of ecosystem conservation is essential in order to promote both environmental sustainability and agricultural production. A state should provide each and every person, adequate and other basic necessasities so that people can live the life with dignity. Food security is an emerging issue. It involves not only the production but access, process, policy, household realities and quality food. The concept of food security should be broadened so as to mean every individual has the physical, economic and environmental access to a balanced diet, safe drinking water, hygienic environment, primary health care and education. Sustainable land and water management should be directly linked with the food security. Food security must focus on diversified food and not just food grains only. Food banks should be maintained at grass root level. The major challenge is to produce additional food while conserving depleting natural resources. Programmes and policies for agriculture and food security should involve public and private institutions. The role indigenous technical knowledge in conserving food and agriculture should be acknowledged. Gender concerns should be mainstreamed. Nutrition security must be placed high on the agenda for development plans and programmes.
Issues involving the women
in food security
* State imperatives sometimes increase productivity but without ensuring commensurate income and other benefits for women.
* The increasing drudgery and time spent by women is not compensated by increase in value added. Women lack access to markets.
* Sustainable development policies impact on agriculture particularly food security on poor women especially female-headed households.
* Structural adjustments, policies and transition to market economies do not pay adequate attention to their impact on women.
* Inadequate gender-discriminated data and data gaps with regard to rural women. Women are marginalised in the planning process.
* Lack of women participation in terms of gender differences in the design, monitoring and evaluation of policies, projects and programmes.
* Women are treated as welfare recipients in many employment and income generating projects.
* Inadequate appreciation of the impact of policies on women.
* Inadequate appreciation of the impact of demographic changes on women.
* Institutional barriers to women’s political participation.
* Covert and overt policy biases against women due to policies overlooking or excluding gender-equity considerations.
* Mandates in regard to women are either absent or not enforced.
* Agricultural policies do not articulate gender issues so they are not considered.
* Lack of awareness at all levels in all cultures. Social and cultural constraints on women’s participation.
* Low status and disadvantaged position of women resulting in lower education. Traditional knowledge systems become distorted and undermined while new knowledge is often inaccessible to rural women.
* Complexity of ecological issues, their impact on gender at macro and micro level.
* Policies should spell out specific legislation and programmes of action to entitle women to productive assets and women full membership in organisations.
* Efforts to formulate sustainable development policies should recognize the impact of unsustainable practices on women.
* Agricultural policies and technology should seek drudgery to improve economic efficiency and wages for the time spent by women.
Both men and women play their important role in agriculture throughout the world.60-80 per cent of food is produced by the rural women in most of the developing countries. Despite their contribution to global food security they are underestimated in development of strategies. Traditional inheritance and land tenure laws limit women’s ownership and use of land. In the developing countries, banks and other credit institutions are less inclined to lend women because without property and land rights, they lack collateral security. Extension activities and cooperatives inputs rarely reach to women. Few of the world’s extension agents are women. Needs and priorities of women are rarely considered in the research and development. Women constitute half of our population and play a vital role in the development of the nation. Unless women’s potential is properly recognized, no transformation and development is possible.
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