I recently read an article on the SDG goal of zero hunger among nations. It made me realize that after the pandemic, people were able to have control over their consumption to ensure that everyone in the family was fed correctly. It can be challenging for those from a less privileged community to fairly divide the food with everyone in a family. The percentage of people who are not able to meet their food requirements has come down; however, after COVID-19, it has begun to increase.
Source: Global Hunger Index (2022)
The zero-hunger challenge has many attributes to it. It primarily covers zero-stunted children’s growth, complete access to food all year round, all food systems being sustainable, a 100 percent increase in smallholder productivity and income, and zero food waste.
If a nation can achieve all this, the issue of poverty can also be solved. There is high interlinkage between these two goals.
The definition of poverty still remains a question, and different organizations have interpreted different meanings for it. A person falling just above the BPL (below the poverty line) may not be gaining anything extra compared to a person who is on the BPL line. This type of challenge is rightly pointed out by various research, several articles, and studies by economists such as Himanshu, Richard Palmer, Kunal Sen, etc.
Nutritional challenges
As per the Global Hunger Index 2022, India ranks 107th among 121 countries, with a score of 29.1, and the country comes within the “serious” category in terms of the level of hunger. Schemes like ICDS (Integrated Child Development Studies), PDS (Public Distribution System), and MDM (Mid-Day Meal Program) have been running in the country for so many years, but still, the goal of poverty reduction and nutrition requirements are lacking in many states. Even though the country transitioned from being an importer of food items to a global exporter of food items, per capita consumption remains the same.
Source: www.ceicdata.com (Accessed by Author)
At the individual level, intergenerational malnutrition is an important factor that further leads to low birth weight for children born to malnourished mothers. Even though India has increased its production of all crops in the last 5 decades, it is quite troubling to interpret that despite this rise, the country still falls in the “serious” category of hunger. The per capita availability of food grains has been showing an increasing trend.
Access to food security
The transformation in approach towards food security changed in 2013 when the National Food Security Act 2013 (NFSA) viewed food security as a rights-based approach. Schemes were introduced to ensure the nutritional requirements of people from both rural and urban areas.
AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana) constitutes the poorest of the poor, where each person is entitled to get 35 kgs of food grains per household per month. In Priority Households, each household will get 5 kg of food grains per month. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana (PM POSHAN) schemes also provide additional food grains to those households even if they are covered through PDS.
Ways to Improve
The inflation in agricultural products, such as cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, etc., into double digits has put a toll on poor people’s consumption of vegetables and fruits, thereby decreasing the calorie intake per meal. Even if people try to shift to other types of food, such as millet, it will take time for them to change their food habits and preferences. Instead, minimizing food wastage and promoting more agricultural initiatives must be encouraged to cultivate the practice of healthy food and dietary intake. Nutritional standards are widely uneven in both rural and urban localities; to achieve nutritional status, the related indicators such as education, standard of living, and social status have to be improved in the country.
Changes in nutritional standards are also due to a shift towards more processed food and staple food. Some local interventions such as community gardening, more credit facilities for agriculture initiatives, MSMEs and panchayat to create more funds for promoting agriculture production even at small scales, women initiatives and groups to focus on self-employment and small business through agriculture and cultivation can lead to better achievement of health standards.
Disclaimer: This narration is written in the first person, based on the author’s personal reflections and research. There is no conflict of interest.
Author
Sreedevi RS is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Christ University, Bangalore, India. She completed her PhD in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her areas of expertise include migration, labor, poverty, development, public policy, and gender.
Connect her at Dr-sreedevi-rs
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