• UGI USER
  • Aug 06, 2024
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PARTNERS IN FOOD SECURITY

source:brightspace

Syllabus:

GS-3:

Agricultural Produce and Issues and Related Constraints; E-technology in the aid of farmers.

Focus:

The 32nd ICAE conference is being held in Delhi for which India is taking the leadership role in the context of increasing consciousness towards solving world food insecurity and agricultural issues. This event stresses out that it could only be possible through collaboration between India and Africa to overcome the challenges on nutrition and agriculture as well as other related challenges.

History and importance of Institute of Chartered Accountants in England(ICAE):

●     32 nd ICAE, 2024: India is going to organize the 32 nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists commonly hosted as ICAE in New Delhi from August 2 nd to 7 th, 2024.; The chief guest of ICAE 2024 would be the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, while the guest of honor would be the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

●     Previous Hosting: India last organized the ICAE in the year 1958 at Mysore with honorable Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru as a chief guest.

●     Founding Roots: ICAE was started in India; the first president Lord L. K. Elmhirst was invited by Rabindranath Tagore in the year 1921 to help village development around Santiniketan.

●     Tagore’s Vision: Tagore’s model’s concept included education, training in science, and culture that would reform all villages to start a revolution from the bottom that would spread all over the country.

●     Global Influence: ICAE has grown to be the major assembly of these professionals interested in feeding the world in the face of climate shifts and political unrest.

India’s successful Agricultural revolution and Africa’s Challenges

●     Green and White Revolutions: India is proud of having witnessed the Green Revolution and White (milk) Revolution.

●     African Struggles: Hunger and food and nutritional insecurity remain germane issues affecting Africa up to the present time especially affecting children of age less than five.

●     G20 and African Union: One of the opportunities is the possibility for India to invite the African Union to join G20 as a permanent member.

●     South-South Collaboration: It is possible to note that both India and Africa can analyze global trends and involvement or positively influence each other to rise above the issue of food and nutritional insecurity.

●     Special Session at ICAE: The conference also involves a session on lessons to learn from: twenty Indian States and fifteen African nations’ experiences for 2004-05 to 2019-20.

Key Findings and Recommendations

  • Debt and Agricultural Spending: High debt service:ent ratios have led to decreased agricultural expenditures in relation to social protection.
  • Underfunding in Africa: African countries have always been observed to underinvest in agriculture compared to Indian states, which has a negative impact on productivity and thus the fight against child malnutrition.
  • Public Spending on R&D: Substantial increases in public spending on agricultural R&D and extension are necessary and possible because both regions underspend in these HIGH return activities.
  • Reforming Subsidies: Changes in subsidies and the direction of funding toward infrastructure and research and development will enhance agricultural development leading to better child nutrition.
  • Economic Benefits: Investment in agriculture proves to be useful in poverty eradication besides cutting spending on social services while on food aid, they should not hamper farmers’ earnings and employment generation.
Food Security Initiatives in India:

  • National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013: Provides food grains at subsidized rates to around sixty seven percent of the population of India so that good food can easily be affordable to the public.
  • Public Distribution System (PDS): Supplies food articles and other articles of daily requirement such as rice, wheat, and kerosene through Fair Price Shop at subsidized rates.
  • Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY): Started during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is the scheme which gives additional free food grains to more than 800 million laborers, urban and rural poor.
  • Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY): It enhances the improvement of production in farming, feeds the people, and makes food production secure.
  • Poshan Abhiyaan: Covers the aspect of malnutrition prevention and management with a major emphasis placed on nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions.

Global Food Security and Role of G20:

  • UN Zero Hunger Goal: It is becoming more and more difficult to reach the goal set by the United Nations in the framework of sustainable development regarding the provision of zero hunger by the year 2030 attributable to conflicts and climate crises and slowdowns.
  • Investment Needs: The cessation of hunger in the whole world by the year 2040 denotes that $21 billion each year has to be spent to enhance agriculture and the rural areas.
  • India’s G20 Leadership: Currently, India chairs the G20, and it has been aiming to ensure food security and an end to hunger; It has submitted a strategy paper on bio economy to the G20.
  • South-South Collaboration: South-South cooperation needs to be supported and this would be done through the implementation by the developed countries of G20 in addressing climate change issues as well as promoting science and technology on food systems transformation.
  • Future Presidencies: The rotation of G20 presidencies through Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa shows the new wave in the governance of food systems for the Global South.

Further Prospects to the Indo-African Relations

  • Bioeconomy Development: Promoting adaptation and mitigation goals, as well as the transformation of the system, regarding investments in climate change are needed, such as bioeconomy.
  • Global Climate Fund: Such efforts can be backed up by global investment such as through support to the Global Climate Fund.
  • G20 Presidencies’ Impact: Indonesia, India, Brazil, South Africa, as G20 upcoming presidents could produce many new shifts in the food system regulation.
  • Common Interests: Clearly, a properly working global food system brings benefits mainly to the countries of the Global South, thus revealing their leaders’ capacities.
  • Call to Action: Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is anticipated to take forward the South’s agenda in the G20 framework and promote mutually beneficial, vibrant, and dynamic agri-food relations between Africa and India in view of the equitable and qualitative benefit of nearly one-third of humanity.

Way Forward

  • Enhance Collaboration: Promote India and Africa South-South partnerships on agritex and food security systems.
  • Increase Investment: Increase public and private funding for research inputs to agriculture and development of necessary support structures.
  • Reform Subsidies: Redirect the target in spending on agriculture and its subsidies to more efficient and less damaging domains.
  • Focus on Nutrition: Increase food security; enhance the Ministry of health nutrition and expand nutrition programs for children below five years.
  • Leverage G20 Platform: Make effective use of the G20 forum for solving the problems connected with food security and climate change.
  • Promote Bioeconomy: Create strategies for the bioeconomy to improve the process of climate change adaptation and avoidance.
  • Global Support: Ensure higher international financial aid and funding for the climate investment fund especially for the Global Climate Fund to address the food security goals.

Conclusion

It is feasible to mention that the enhancement of India-Africa cooperation can bring about a large number of positive changes in the areas of food and nutrition. Knowledge sharing, reforming policies, and improvement in investments in agriculture and R & D can help both the regions eliminate malnutrition and withstand the impact of climate change that will go a long way to feed the world.

Source: The Indian Express

Mains Practice Question

Examine the advantages of India-Africa partnership in providing solutions to the food and malnutrition issues. That firstly, there is and always has been a systemic set of issues for both regions and how they can utilise their experiences to work through it?