Food Security-IDEATHON 2020

The first thing that comes to our mind when we talk of food security is hunger. Eradicating hunger by means of sustainable food growth whilst keeping in sync with the growing demand is the conundrum the world is facing today.

We at “Prayaas – an attempt “have set out the following aim/vision in order to channelize ourselves -:

“to explore the pressures on the global food system between now and 2020 and

identify the decisions that policy makers need to take today, and in the years ahead, to ensure that

a global population rising to 7.5 billion plus can be fed sustainably and equitably well”

The flow-:

No doubt the first big step enroute to this vision is access , availability and stability of food today and tomorrow. We along with “Saamanjasya” – the food security patron in India and several others on the same path have decided to join hands and minds to overcome this mammoth problem.

Forecasting Future Demand

Projections in food demand, driven by income and population growth, urbanization, food prices etc have to be taken into consideration to formulate strategy for investments in agricultural innovations. Also dietary diversification of the poor poses a major challenge in forecasting demand. Long term food security demands that research in production technology of non-cereal food as well as technology access to the poor small producers should be promoted. Improvement in the quality of food items and reduction in transaction costs associated with their market access need to be policy priorities. For eg the table below shows the average demand for an Indian household in 2020.

Technological adavancements -:

Various technological innovations in agriculture, use of alternative technologies , crop technology improvements etc can help us achieve sustainable food growth globally.

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  ·         Agricultural innovations like agroforestry , soil management , biofortification(breeding crops to increase their nutritional value) , adopting agro-ecological and organic farming methods are the need of the hour

  ·         Use of Nuclear technology to produce more food in order to meet demands.

  o   By nuclear irradiation , natural spontaneous mutation process can be accelerated

  o   The use of the sterile insect which combats insect pests that damage crops and spread disease among humans and livestock, while limiting pesticide use.

  o   Advances in biotechnology, new genetics, improvements in agronomic management, and increased use and management of fertilizers are necessary to significantly increase crop yields.

Next steps

The solution to hunger is more food. But scientific advancements and recent studies reveal there is something more to it than what meets the eye. More food is only half the answer we look for. !! Its “hidden hunger” which is the deficiency of micronutrients in food, apart from the regular intake of carbohydrates (macro nutrients).

How "Saamanjasya" help us achieve it? 

"Saamanjasya" means "Reach, Realize & Reform".

“Reach” will help us to extend the concept of food security to individuals and society on the whole.“Realise” will helped to create awareness about the issue For example. This competition made our youth aware of the issue which has been neglected for so many years.”Reform” will encourage to step up with ideas & thought to resolve this issue of Food insecurity.