Food Security in India During the Pandemic: Future Learning for Ensuring Zero Hunger

Abstract

Disasters are increasing globally; so is the food insecurity. “Globally, the frequency of natural disasters increased tenfold since 1960, increasing from 39 incidents in 1960 to 396 in 2019” (Institute for Economics & Peace, 2020, p. 5). Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has noted that “In recent decades, disasters averaged more than 360 distinct events per year (in the 2010s) and 440 per year (in the 2000s), compared to just over 100 in the 1980s and a moderate 90 per year in the 1970s” (FAO, 2021, p. 4). On the other hand, “An estimated 2 billion people currently face moderate or severe food insecurity. By 2050, this figure is expected to increase to 3.5 billion people” (Institute for Economics & Peace, 2020, p. 4). So food security is one of the major challenges in managing any disaster for today as well as for the future world. In the climate related disasters like floods, droughts, or forest fire, food security is inherently interlinked with climate change and other current global challenges of economy. But the devastating impact of the recent pandemic of COVID-19, leading to an unprecedented recession since the Second World War, has deteriorated the food security and nutrition status of millions of people including children (FAO et al., 2021, p. vi). The Report of FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO (2021) observed “Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world, particularly the most vulnerable and those living in fragile contexts” (p. vi). In fact pandemic has broken food supply chains, devastated food markets and fields, compelled labor shortage and forced mandi (where vendors sell their farm products in a wholesale manner) closures. So the issue of linkage between pandemic and food security has become very complex and 720–811 million people in the world face hunger in 2020 (p. vi). Besides “In the developing world, in addition to the millions of chronically undernourished, another 5–10% are at risk of acute food insecurity in times of crisis” (Ashley, 2016, pp. 19–20). Developing countries that have experienced political instability, conflict, or “unprecedented Desert Locust outbreaks in Eastern Africa” (FAO et al., 2020, p. viii) in recent decades are more likely to have sustained significant setbacks in reducing hunger during pandemic or afterwards. This chapter asks some questions in this context: How can the sustainability of feeding Below the Poverty Line People be ensured in terms of availability and accessibility of food grains? What role does the civil society play in the governance of distributive justice, particularly in the context of ensuring food security for the vulnerable sections of the society? What else are required for making the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) more effective in a post-pandemic situation, especially in the context of another disaster? The chapter will be based on secondary data collected from government reports and non-government publications, reports of international organizations, and relevant books and journals.