The Future of Food

Context: The climate crisis demands that India, like the rest of the world, aims for a transformation of its food systems to ensure sustainability, growing farm incomes and nutrition security. 

Defining food systems

• According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), “food systems encompass the entire range of actors involved in the 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”.
• The recent Food Systems Summit aims for a transformation of global food systems in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Its objectives are –
  • Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all;
  • Shift to sustainable consumption patterns;
  • Boost nature-positive production;
  • Advance equitable livelihoods;
  • Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress.

Issues with India’s policies across food systems

• Unsustainability: Green Revolution also led to water-logging, soil erosion, groundwater depletion and the unsustainability of agriculture. Estimates show that the food sector emits 30 % of the world’s greenhouse gases.
• Undiversified biased procurement, subsidies and water policies: Three crops (rice, wheat and sugarcane) corner 75 to 80 % of irrigated water.
• Hunger and malnutrition:
  • According to the NFHS-4 survey, around 38 % of the country’s children reported stunting in 2015-16. Similarly, obesity is also rising.
  • The EAT-Lancet diet, which recommends a healthy and sustainable diet, is not affordable for the majority of the population in India; $3 and $5 per person per day as opposed to the $1 per person per day in India.
    • The gap is much more for meat, fish, poultry, dairy and fruits. In fact, even in rural areas, processed foods like potato chips and biscuits are cheaper and available as compared to fruits and vegetables.
    • Per capita consumption of meat is below 10 kg in India as compared to 60 to 70 kg in the US and Europe.
  • Low farm income: Income from agriculture is not sufficient for smallholders and informal workers.

Way Forward

• Diversification of cropping, procurement and value production & marketing :
  • Moving towards millets, pulses, oilseeds, horticulture is needed for equal distribution of water, sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.
  • Inclusive production: It must be inclusive in terms of women and small farmers; it must be nutrition-sensitive, environment friendly and sustainable.
    • Women’s cooperatives and groups like Kudumbashree in Kerala would be helpful.
    • One of the successful examples of a value chain that helped smallholders, women and consumers are Amul (Anand Milk Union Ltd), created by Verghese Kurien.
  • Institutionalised marketing: Farmer producer organisations help get better prices. The ITC’s E-Choupal is an example of technology benefiting small farmers.
• Achieving sustainability: In production, value chains and consumption - climate-resilient cropping patterns have to be promoted. Instead of giving input subsidies, cash transfers can be given to farmers.
• Improving health infrastructure: Food systems also need health infrastructure. Inequalities in health and education have to be reduced for healthy and sustainable food systems.
• Need for strong social protection: India has long experience in these programmes. Strengthening India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, public distribution system (PDS), ICDS, mid-day meal programmes.
  • In PDS, there is a need to give non-staples like pulses and oils and biofortified cereals for better nutrition.
• Increasing non-farm employment options: labour-intensive manufacturing and services can reduce pressure on agriculture and increase incomes. Strengthening rural MSMEs and food processing is part of the solution.
• Creating a global scientific research panel: Similar to the IPCC for climate change, an International Panel on Food and Nutritional Security (IPFN) has been proposed.