Food Security and Food Production: Planning and Governance Frameworks

摘要

India is one of the leading democracies in the world, but its ranking as per the Human Development Index (HDI) is not very encouraging (135th as per the new 2014 estimates for 2013). HDI is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, standards of living and quality of life for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. India can be proud of its political freedom and sovereignty but there are places like Kalahandi that authenticatethe millions of starving people in India where every third or fourth child is malnourished. In all, 240 million people sleep hungry every night in India, while two of every three women are anaemic. India ranks 66th on the 2012 Global Food Security Index(GFSI). According to this report, India is a protein and vitamin A deficit nation.13 The high food availability (51.3) but low food access (38.4) clearly show that people cannot afford nutritious food. Although, as per the report, India has better results than Pakistan (75) and Bangladesh (81), this situation cannot stand. India has to address some of the critical key challenges (as per the report) like the high level of poverty, the low incomes, the low public spending on farm research, the poor infrastructure and the lack of supply of quality protein not only to attain food security but also to become one of the stable economies of the world.