Transforming India’s Food Systems

• 10 Sep 2021

Why in News

Sustainability of Food Systems is going to be crucial in the years to come due to climate change.

• India also has to transform its food systems, which have to be inclusive and sustainable for higher farm incomes and nutrition security.
• Earlier, the United Nation's report on the Food System, suggested that today's food systems are heavily afflicted by power imbalances and inequality, and do not work for most women.

Key Points

• Food Systems:
  
  • According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), food systems encompass the entire range of actors involved in:
    
    • Production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded.
• Challenges in India’s Food Systems:
  
  • Effect of Green Revolution:
    
    • Although there has been significant progress in the country’s agricultural development due to the Green Revolution, It has also led to water-logging, soil erosion, groundwater depletion and the unsustainability of agriculture.
  • Current Policies:
    
    • Current policies are still based on the deficit mindset of the 1960s. The procurement, subsidies and water policies are biased towards rice and wheat.
      
      • Three crops (rice, wheat and sugarcane) corner 75 to 80% of irrigated water.
  • Malnutrition:
    
    • The NFHS-5 shows that under-nutrition has not declined in many states even in 2019-20. Similarly, obesity is also rising.
    • The cost of the EAT-Lancet dietary recommendations for rural India ranges between USD 3 and USD 5 per person per day. In contrast, actual dietary intake is around USD 1 per person per day.
• Steps Needed to Transform India’s Food Systems:
  
  • Crop Diversification:
    
    • Diversification of cropping patterns towards millets, pulses, oilseeds, horticulture is needed for more equal distribution of water, sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.
  • Institutional Changes in Agri-Sector:
    
    • Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) should help get better prices for inputs and outputs for small holders.
      
      • E-Choupal is an example of technology benefiting small farmers.
    • Women’s empowerment is important particularly for raising incomes and nutrition.
      
      • Women’s cooperatives and groups like Kudumbashree in Kerala would be helpful.
  • Sustainable Food Systems:
    
    • Estimates show that the food sector emits around 30% of the world’s greenhouse gases.
    • Sustainability has to be achieved in production, value chains and consumption.
  • Health Infrastructure & Social Protection:
    
    • The Covid-19 pandemic has uncovered the weak well being infrastructure in international locations like India, notably in rural areas and a few areas.
    • Inclusive food systems also need strong social protection programmes. India has long experience in these programmes. Strengthening India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Public Distribution System (PDS), nutrition programmes like Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Mid-Day Meal programmes, can improve income, livelihoods and nutrition for the poor and vulnerable groups.
  • Non-Agriculture Sector:
    
    • The role of non-agriculture is equally important for sustainable food systems. Labour-intensive manufacturing and services can reduce pressure on agriculture as income from agriculture is not sufficient for small holders and informal workers.
    • Therefore strengthening rural Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and food processing is part of the solution.

Way Forward

• The UN Secretary-General will convene the Food Systems Summit in September 2021, which aims for a transformation of global food systems in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. It is a great opportunity to boost policies for achieving SDGs.
• Science and technology are important drivers to achieve these goals. India should also aim for a food systems transformation, which can be inclusive and sustainable, ensure growing farm incomes and nutrition security.

Source: IE