Reimagining Food Systems with Lessons from India

The first and historic United Nations Food System Summit (UNFSS) 2021, which was held in September this year, was an intense ‘bottom-up’ to find solutions and ‘catalyze the momentum’ by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in 2019. After the process is completed. Change the way the world views, consumes and thinks about food and help address growing hunger.

In the context of the larger goals, food system change is considered essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. This makes strong sense because 11 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are directly related to the food system.

The summit included a number of activities ahead of the meeting of the heads of states on 23 September. While dialogue is underway on the five tracks identified for the past 18 months, the world has seen the fragility and vulnerability of food. The global hunger figure is projected to double, highlighted by the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why and what are the expectations from the Food System Summit? Global food systems – the networks that are essential to the production and transformation of food, and to ensure that it reaches consumers, or the routes that food travels from production to plate – in many countries affecting the poor and vulnerable. are in a state of crisis. Food systems flaws affect us all, but most of all they are affecting the 811 million people in the world who go to bed hungry every night.

The summit created a mechanism for serious debate involving UN member states, civil society, non-governmental organizations, academia, researchers, individuals and the private sector on how to reshape food systems to increase the satisfaction of all stakeholders. To prepare from is to develop transformative themes and ideas. including future generations. The debate and feedback focused on five identified action tracks: ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all; change in sustainable consumption pattern; Promoting nature-positive production; Advance equitable livelihoods, and build resilience to vulnerabilities, setbacks, and stress.

The summit provided a historic opportunity for all people to leverage the power of food systems to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and get us back on track to achieve all 17 SDGs by 2030.

The statement of action emerging from the summit provides a concise set of ambitious, high-level principles and areas for action that support the global call to “build better” after the COVID-19 pandemic.

India set up an inter-departmental group under the chairmanship of one of us, consisting of representatives from the ministries of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, rural development and others. Delhi-based United Nations agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) were also actively involved in the dialogue process. The group conducted national dialogues with various stakeholders of agri-food systems to explore national paths towards building a sustainable and equitable food system in India. Several individuals and civil society organizations contributed ideas to the portal created for this purpose.

helping the developing world

There are lessons to be learned from India’s effort with food insecurity. Many of the themes that emerged in the discussions and dialogues leading up to the summit resonate with India’s past and its ongoing journey towards building and improving food and livelihood security. The long journey from chronic food scarcity to surplus food producer offers many interesting lessons in the areas of land reform, public investment, institutional infrastructure, new regulatory systems, public support and interventions for other developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. . Agricultural Markets and Prices and Agricultural Research and Extension.

Read also | UN warns that hunger is likely to rise in 23 global hotspots

The period between 1991 and 2015 saw the diversification of agriculture beyond field crops and increased attention to the horticulture, dairy, animal husbandry and fisheries sectors. Teachings included elements of nutritional health, food safety and standards, sustainability, the deployment of space technology, and so on.

safety net challenges

One of India’s biggest contributions to equity in food is its National Food Security Act 2013 which forms the basis of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), Mid-Day Meal (MDM) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Today, India’s food safety net collectively reaches over a billion people.

Food safety nets and inclusions are linked to public procurement and buffer stock policy. This global food crisis was visible during 2008-2012 and more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing vulnerable and marginalized households in India to continue to buffer against the food crisis by its strong TPDS and buffer stocks of food grains .

A look at the challenges and the road ahead towards 2050. Climate change and sustainable use of land and water resources are some of the biggest challenges facing food systems today. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has raised alarm bells, highlighting the urgency to act now.

Dietary diversity, nutrition, and related health outcomes are another area of ​​concern as the focus on rice and wheat has created nutritional challenges of its own. India has taken a bold decision to fortify the rice supplied through the Public Distribution System with iron. Agricultural Research Institutes are about to release a number of high-nutrition crop varieties as a long-term solution to undernutrition and malnutrition.

surplus and undernutrition

It is ironic that despite being a net exporter and a food surplus country at the aggregate level, the prevalence of undernutrition in India is 50% higher than the world average. But the proportion of the malnourished population declined from 21.6% during 2004-06 to 15.4% during 2018-20. The high prevalence of undernutrition in the country does not seem to be due to food shortages or low availability of food. The Government of India and the states are seriously concerned about this paradoxical situation as it is a food surplus and at the same time, 15% of the population is malnourished. They are trying to address other possible causes of undernutrition through a number of nutritional interventions. As announced recently, the supply of fortified rice in PDS and POSHAN Abhiyaan are two steps to address the challenge of malnutrition and undernutrition.

Reducing food waste or food loss is a major challenge and is linked to the efficiency of the food supply chain. Food wastage in India is more than Rs 1 lakh crore.

Why the world should end hunger is the next point. An alarming rise in global hunger is emerging, with a ‘dramatic worsening’ of world hunger in 2020, much of it related to the fallout from COVID-19. While the impact of the pandemic is yet to be fully mapped, the ‘State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ report estimates that last year nearly a tenth of the global population was malnourished.

It is important to reiterate that hunger and food insecurity are major drivers of conflict and instability around the world. ‘Food is peace’, is a phrase often used to highlight how hunger and conflict feed off each other. The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 awarded to the United Nations WFP highlights the importance of addressing hunger to prevent conflicts and create stability. The citation release sums it up well, quoting this line: “Until we have a medical vaccine, food is the best vaccine against chaos.”

equity, for stability

We are on the verge of a transformation to make a world free of hunger by 2030 and fulfill the promises of the SDGs with strong collaboration and partnerships between governments, citizens, civil society organizations and the private sector. We must collaborate to invest, innovate and create sustainable solutions in sustainable agriculture contribute to equitable livelihoods, food security and nutrition. India has a lot to learn from its successes, and also to learn from, to prepare itself for the next 20 to 30 years. This will certainly require balancing growth and sustainability, mitigating climate change, ensuring healthy, safe, quality and affordable food, maintaining biodiversity, improving resilience, and providing smallholders and youth with an attractive income and work environment. There is a need to re-imagine the food system towards the goal of providing Achieving the goal of “advancing equitable livelihoods” requires that food system change be anchored around small and medium-scale production, family farmers, indigenous people, women and workers in the food value chain.

Bisho Parjuli is India’s representative and country director of the United Nations World Food Program. Ramesh Chand Member, NITI Aayog and Convener of India’s National Dialogue on Food System Summit