As part of reporting for my diploma course i and my classmates were sent to the MSSRF (MS Swaminathan Reserach Fundation), Chennai, India for the World Food Day Programmes. Here is my first-hand account of the half day-long seminar held on October 16 along with my classmate Saumya Ancheri. This report was published in our college website digantik.com
CHENNAI: “More than half of India’s population survives on less than Rs 20 a day,” said Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, Chairman of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation on the occasion of World Food Day on October16. He was speaking at the Foundation’s seminar on ‘Food for All and Forever’ with this year’s theme being ‘Right to Food.’
Quoting from figures released by Dr. Arjun Sengupta, the Chairman of National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), Dr. Swaminathan pointed out that the per capita availability of land had declined from 0.7 hectares to 0.18 hectares from 1980 to 2007.
Earlier Mr. Gian Pietro Bordignon, Country Director and Representative, India, United Nations World Food Programme, New Delhi warned that, “Right to Food is a distant dream for 850 million people, of whom more than 200 million are in the Indian subcontinent.”
Pointing out that India was also one of the largest food grain producers in the world, he added that ensuring food security was, “A matter of better implementation of food-based schemes and providing food through the Midday Meal and Integrated Child Development Schemes.” Bordignon said that the UN planned to distribute 30-35 million tons of food through various food support schemes like the Integrated Child Development Project from 2008.
Mentioning shrinking land base and reduced livestock holding, Dr. Swarna Vepa, Ford Foundation Chair for Women and Sustainable Food Security and Programme Director, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation said, “The cost of cultivation has increased but support and market prices are much lower.” Thus she said the profitability of agriculture was decreasing.
Dr. Rama Narayanan, Advisor, Food Security, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation said that India’s GDP suffered a 2.3 percent loss due to malnutrition. She also discussed the trend in reduction of the number of underweight children across the different states. Dr. Narayanan stressed on the need for formulating a Nutrition Security Policy for women and children.
Dr. Sesikaran Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad spoke on the problems following the lack of micronutrients in the food consumed by an average Indian. According to him, the marginalised population in India suffered from basic iron, vitamin, and zinc and iodine deficiency because of a predominant carbohydrate rich diet.
Dr. Palanithurai, Professor and Head, Department of Political Science and Development Administration, Gandhigram Rural Institute, said that awareness drives aimed at sensitizing the Gram-Panchayats could bring in positive changes in terms of effective implementation of the development oriented schemes in India.
