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Food security in India

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Food security has been a major concern in India. In 2022, the Global Food Security Index ranked India at 68th out of the 113 major countries in terms of food security.[1] In 2023, the Global Hunger Index ranked India at 111th out of 125 countries.[2] According to United Nations, there are nearly 195 million undernourished people in India that make up a quarter of the world's undernourished population. In addition, roughly 43% of children in India are chronically undernourished.[3] Though the current nutritional standards meets 100% of daily food requirements, India lags far behind in terms of a quality protein intake at 20%; this shortcoming can be alleviated by making available protein-rich food products such as soybeans, lentils, meat, eggs, dairy, etc. more readily accessible and affordable for Indian citizens.[4] The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[5] finds that India is operating at only 56.8% of its capacity based its economic power to ensure its citizens have adequate food security.[6]


In order to ensure citizens' fundamental rights to accessible and affordable food, the Parliament of India enacted the National Food Security Act in 2013. Also known as the Right to Food Act, this Act seeks to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India's 1.33 billion population.[7] It was signed into law on 10 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.[8][9]

Schemes by government

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Central Initiatives

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  • The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was established in 1965 for the purpose of procurement, storage, and distribution of food grains. It has been playing a major role in the food security of India.[10]
  • The National Food Security Act,2013 (NFSA 2013) converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programs of the Government of India. It also includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme, and the Public Distribution System. In 2017–18, over Rs 1500 billion (7.6% of the government's total expenditure) have been allocated to provide food subsidies under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).[11]
  • The NFSA 2013 also recognizes maternity entitlements. Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.[12]

State Initiatives

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  • Karnataka has launched the 'Indira Canteen', which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a very low price. This idea was implemented by Siddaramaiah as CM so that no one in the state would go hungry and everyone would get healthy food.[13]
  • Andhra Pradesh has supported the Nalabothu Foundation, which provides free meals to people in need by redistributing excess food from homes, restaurants, businesses, canteens, and gatherings. This scheme was brought to national attention by Prime Minister Modi.[14]
  • Tamil Nadu has launched 'Amma Unavagam' (Mother's canteen), or more commonly known as Amma canteen.[15] The genesis of this program could be traced to the scheme proposed by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute in 2012 and is continuing its part in the mid-day meal scheme.[16]

Challenges for India

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A lack of access to affordable and healthy foods is widespread throughout India. With over 60% of India's population depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the agricultural sector is critical for both India's economy and food security levels across the country.[17] However, India's agricultural sector faces a growing number of challenges, including lower agricultural productivity due to climate volatility and reduced available farmland partially due to India's rapidly increasing population outpacing economic growth that strains India's natural resources and land availability.[18] India produces around 100 million tonnes of rice every year. While there might be enough food for the whole population of India, many families and especially children in India don't have access to food because of financial problems. Thus, this is the cause of millions of malnourished children around India. The cultural knowledge in India allows them to have a very nutritional and balanced diet. Nearly the whole of the Indian population has rice at least once a day which allows them to have carbohydrates in their system. Since India is most commonly known for producing and exporting rice to other countries, their lifestyle will be mainly dominated by rice.[19]

Technological solutions

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India can use some methods to improve the availability and affordability of protein rich food products using the latest environmental friendly technology without the need of additional land and water.[20] Biogas or natural gas or methane produced from farm/agro/crop/domestic waste can also be used in addition to mined natural gas for producing protein rich cattle/fish/poultry/pet animal feed economically by cultivating Methylococcus capsulatus bacteria culture in a decentralized manner near to the rural/consumption areas with tiny land and water foot print.[21][22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Global Food Security Index (GFSI)". The Economist. 7 February 2023.
  2. ^ "India slips in Global Hunger Index, ranks 107 out of 121 nations". Al Jazeera.
  3. ^ "Nutrition and Food Security - UN India". UN India. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  4. ^ "India: Global Food Security Index". Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  6. ^ "India - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  7. ^ "National Food Security Act" (PDF). PRS Legislative Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Food Security Act To Be Implemented From June 5". BTVI.in. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Expenditure Budget, Union Budget 2017-18" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  12. ^ The Gazette of India. "The National Food Security Act, 2013" (PDF).
  13. ^ "Indira Canteen, Karnataka". Archived from the original on 8 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Nalabothu foundation".
  15. ^ "Tamil Nadu's Amma canteen concept catches on in other states", Live Mint, 27 March 2017
  16. ^ How Village Restaurants Could Change The Lives Of The Rural Poor
  17. ^ "India", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 5 September 2023, retrieved 7 September 2023
  18. ^ "USDA ERS - India Continues to Grapple with Food Insecurity". www.ers.usda.gov. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  19. ^ Swaminathan, M.S.; Bhavani, R.V. (2013). "Food production & availability - Essential prerequisites for sustainable food security". The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 138 (3): 383–391. PMC 3818607. PMID 24135188.
  20. ^ "Food made from natural gas will soon feed farm animals – and us". Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  21. ^ "BioProtein Production" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  22. ^ "New venture selects Cargill's Tennessee site to produce Calysta FeedKind® Protein - Calysta". calysta.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.

Further reading

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Ramaswamy, S. (2017). Food Security in India. India: MJP Publishers.

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