International Food Security

Till a few thousand years back, man lived as a hunter gatherer, living on whatever the nature produced. During the seasons of plenty, he ate to his fill and, during lean periods, he went practically without food. His main occupation, therefore, was wandering in search of food. A grown up person walked a minimum of fifty kilo meters daily.

A given area, say a few hundred square kilo meters, could support only a few hundred or so human beings. If the number went beyond a limit, the surplus would perish, either out of malnutrition or because of clan wars. The human race, believed to have been originated in Africa, gradually moved to different parts of the world, obviously in search of food or to save themselves from competing tribes.

Man invented agriculture perhaps ten thousand years ago. He started to cultivate plantains, nuts, fruits, grains and roots to ensure steady supply of foods. Instead of wandering in search of foods, he settled down in fertile areas most often near rivers. In fact, the whole of human civilization is a product of his agricultural activity. Plentiful and steady supply of foods obviated the need for incessant wanderings and hunger no longer haunted him as in the past.

Steady supply of foods resulted in an explosion of population. When he depended solely on foods found in nature, human population could never exceed a certain limit. Now that man produced what he needed, he could father and support a larger family. Unmodified nature could never have supported more than a few million people in the entire globe. So, it is obvious that the present human population of nearly eight billion is another product of agriculture.

Until a century back, agriculture meant cultivation for food production only. Moreover, there was scope for expanding areas under cultivation. Around the middle of the last century, it became obvious to scientists and planners that clearing more areas for farming would adversely affect the Eco system. The only way to increase food production was to improve the per acre grain output. Better varieties and systematic agricultural practices like applying chemical fertilizers were recommended. To protect plants from pests, pesticides were invented and lavishly applied.

Insecticides and chemical fertilizers not only eroded the quality of foods produced but also depleted the natural strength of the soil to support healthy plants. Half baked notions of scientists and the avarice of industry were the villains. The scope for further improving per acre out put of grains is next to nil.

Simultaneously, there was shift from agriculture for foods to farming for industry. Rubber and softwoods started to be grown extensively to cater to the needs of industry. Growth of towns, cities and suburbs made great inroads to areas under wheat, paddy and other crops.

To make matters worse, some wealthy countries like the US are going on with their programme of producing ethanol from grains so that their dependence on petrol for powering vehicles is reduced. This will further worsen the already grim global food availability.

Modifying plants genetically to produce more and to protect plants from insects is a modern way to fight scarcity and ensure plenty. But, the advisability of tampering with nature’s unerring wisdom thus is a matter of dispute.

It is evident that the food production potential of the planet has reached the maximum possible limit. Trying to further increase it is an almost impossible task.

Let’s examine the ways in which an acute shortage of food, perhaps the most challenging task before governments and policy makers, can be addressed.

The most urgent step should be arresting the growth of population in third world countries. Paradoxically enough, the rate of growth of population is high in economically backward countries. The vicious circle of poverty, grater birth rates, and more poverty is visible in all the poorer countries. Spreading literacy among people with particular emphasis on literacy among women is the first step. In every country with a high rate of literacy, birth rates are found to fall.

Third world countries backed by wealthy nations should, therefore, put in every effort to spread literacy among their people. A small percentage of money spent on the manufacture of weapons will be sufficient to send all the children in the poorer countries to school and ensure universal literacy.

Electrification of villages has been found to reduce birth rates considerably. Here also, the funds needed to electrify villages world wide, will be very small compared with the huge amounts spent on defence.

Government policies should be so oriented that couples are encouraged to have smaller families. Preventing child mortality will encourage couples to have only two or three children.

Food production should be made a more profitable occupation. This can be ensured partly by increasing the price of foods and partly by subsidizing food production. By increasing the price of grains and vegetables, people will be forced to economize the consumption of foods: by subsidizing food production governments can ensure that agriculture is a profitable occupation. Farmers should no longer be tempted to shift from cultivation for foods to more lucrative cash crops for industry.

In every economy, there will be years of plenty and those of scarcity. To bridge the gap between the two, buffer stocks should be created. Buffer stocks will help price lines of foods to be steady while it will ensure equitable prices for farm products.

Unless governments all over the world are careful, the world population especially that in the poor countries, will be in the grip of a horrible shortage of foods, which will shatter world peace, especially now that the world food production is projected to fall on account of the impending changes in the climate patterns.