Meaning
According to the World Food Summit (1996), food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs for an active and healthy life. It has four dimensions:
- Availability: enough food is produced or imported.
- Access: people can afford and reach it.
- Utilisation: the body can use it well, which needs clean water, sanitation and a balanced diet.
- Stability: these conditions last over time, even during droughts or price shocks.
A country can have full granaries while many households remain hungry, because access is about income and distribution, not just production.
Issues in India
Problems include poverty, low purchasing power, malnutrition among children and women (hidden hunger from lack of micronutrients), post-harvest losses, climate variability, groundwater decline and leakages in distribution. India's support system includes minimum support prices, procurement by the Food Corporation of India (set up in 1965), buffer stocks and the Public Distribution System (PDS) of ration shops.
National Food Security Act, 2013
The Act made food a legal right for a large part of the population.
- Covers up to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population.
- Priority households get 5 kg of food grains per person per month.
- Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, the poorest, get 35 kg per household per month.
- Prices fixed in the Act: ₹3/kg for rice, ₹2/kg for wheat and ₹1/kg for coarse grains.
- Pregnant women and lactating mothers get nutritious meals and maternity benefit of at least ₹6,000.
- Children from 6 months to 14 years get meals through anganwadis and schools.
- The eldest woman of the household, aged 18 or above, is treated as head of household for the ration card.
- Grievance redressal at district and state levels.
Key points
- Four pillars: availability, access, utilisation, stability.
- NFSA covers up to 75% rural and 50% urban population.
- 5 kg per person (priority) and 35 kg per household (AAY) per month.
- Women are recognised as heads of household for ration cards.
Common mistakes
- Equating food security with food production alone.
- Mixing up the per-person (priority) and per-household (AAY) entitlements.