World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16 to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. It is also an opportune moment to heighten public awareness on the plight of the world’s hungry and malnourished and to encourage people worldwide to take action against hunger.
Earlier writing through this column it was mentioned that India was reported as having the largest number of poor children of any nation, with an estimated 80 percent of its 400 million children severely deprived and 60 percent absolutely poor. Almost half of all children under 5 are malnourished and a third of newborns are significantly underweight.
One of the paradoxes of the reform era is that even though economic liberalization has led to a broad upswing in growth rates, there has been no significant dent made in the country’s poverty profile. For developing economies, liberalization and reforms have worked only when it has been properly guided by some form of government intervention whereby market forces can be channelized in a way that would alleviate poverty at least to a respectable level.
When we look at the global scenario, there is a growing imbalance in the agro sector between the rich and poor countries so much so that poor farmers from developing countries can hardly be expected to sell their products in industrialized first world countries while the subsidized farm products from industrialized countries are conveniently dumped and sold in poor countries. This reminds us of the British colonial policy in India where Indians found it extremely difficult to compete in the international market due to their inferior quality and non-competitive price levels. Today a similar situation exists in many poor countries. This calls for a fairer trading system so that the poor are not penalized because of poor technology and that agriculture as a means of livelihood for the millions remain sustainable as a source of income.
Another issue that must be addressed by the concerned forum such as the FAO or within the UN is the crisis in political systems which in many cases perpetuate the economic divide between the haves and the have-nots. Famine the most extreme expression of poverty is now mainly restricted to Africa. Bringing an end to Africa’s wars would go a long way in alleviating poverty. There have been devastating stories about military regimes starving a particular community because of political reason and as a form of submission. Further such conflict diverts resources from civilian use and stops the flow of developmental aid.
While peace is a pre-requisite factor for development, appropriate policies must also be put in place to stimulate rural economic growth that would enable communities to develop food security. A sustainable food programme must be developed to sustain food security and at the same time conserving the environment and the natural resource base. Government’s wherever, must take necessary steps to lift agriculture to self sustaining secure levels.
World Food Day provides an opportunity both at local, national and international levels to enhance solidarity on these issues so that the common vision of eradicating hunger can be achieved.
