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Towards Hunger
Free India - Media Coverage
25 April 2001, Times of India, New
Delhi, India
Lurking food insecurity
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: The Food Insecurity Atlas looks at five
criteria: Food availability, access, absorption of food in the body,
sustainability of the food production process, and vulnerability to transient
hunger caused by natural calamities.
Punjab and Haryana top food availability (or production) security but are in
an "uneviable'' situation on sustainability criteria like forest cover,
groundwater exploitation, soil degradation - and could be food insecure in
the next two decades.
Gujarat doesn't fare well in production but has a reasonable position on
access (purchasing power) and absorption, the latter influenced by the
quality of drinking water, environmental hygiene, primary health care and
primary education. It needs to pay attention to water harvesting,
conservation, climate and disaster management.
West Bengal and Assam, relatively food secure when it comes to availability
and access, are found wanting on the food absorption and utilisation fronts.
They have to pay greater attention to environmental hygiene and safe drinking
water. Tamil Nadu, good in food availability and absorption, is poor in food
access - because of a big number of landless labour families in villages. In
this state, a transition from unskilled to skilled work and greater attention
to non-farm employment may bring many above the poverty line.
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World Food Programme
2 Poorvi Marg, Vasant Vihar, New
Delhi – 110057, India
Tel:91-11-26150000, Fax:91-11-26150019
Contact:
wfp.newdelhi @wfp.org
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