Question

line graph and bar graph need to be made to enhance illustration whenever required for comparison of food security in india :issues and challenges. ​

Answer 1

Answer:

Food and nutrition security are intimately interconnected, since only a food based approach can help in overcoming malnutrition in an economically and socially sustainable manner. Food production provides the base for food security as it is a key determinant of food availability. This paper deals with different aspects of ensuring high productivity and production without associated ecological harm for ensuring adequate food availability. By mainstreaming ecological considerations in technology development and dissemination, we can enter an era of evergreen revolution and sustainable food and nutrition security. Public policy support is crucial for enabling this.

Keywords: Food availability, food production, sustainable food security

Food production is the base for food security. The internationally accepted definition of food security is that given by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security, 1996, further refined in the FAO's State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2001. “Food security [is] a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”1.

Swaminathan (1986)2 has stressed the need for shifting to the concept of ‘Nutrition Security’, which he has defined as “physical, economic and social access to balanced diet, clean drinking water, environmental hygiene, primary health care and nutritional literacy”2. Three dimensions viz. availability, access and absorption are encompassed in the definition ─

(i) Availability refers to the physical availability of food stocks in desired quantities. Using food grains as a proxy for food (reasonable enough in a context where food grains account for a large share of food intake), availability of food grain is given by domestic production net of feed, seed and wastage plus net imports plus draw-down of stocks. Physical availability in any location within a nation depends on storage and transport infrastructure and market integration within the national territory.