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livingontheland - [Livingontheland] Re: Livingontheland Digest, Vol 15, Issue 14 Food Systems and Security: Helping the Porr to Cope

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  • From: "Kisan Mehta" <kisansbc@vsnl.com>
  • To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>, "John Whitcombe" <j.r.whitcombe@bangor.ac, uk>
  • Cc: Organic_ Indian <organic_indian@yahoogroups.com>, indianenvironment@yahoogroups.co.in, PRAKRUTI GROUP <prakruti@yahoogroups.com>
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Re: Livingontheland Digest, Vol 15, Issue 14 Food Systems and Security: Helping the Porr to Cope
  • Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:58:38 +0530

Dear Friends,

We were happy to read the excellent article `Food Systems and Security:
Helping
the Poor to cope' in the Living On The Land Digest Vol 15 Issue 14. We
are impressed by the earnestness of the authors to help the poor. We hope
they will not mind our
comments on the same. We in PRAKRUTI are concerned on providing access to
food to the poor and the small farmers. What the authors have written
appears to be
okey in the traditional society which accepted that the first right to
consumption of
food is with the growers-farmer and poor landless labourers and then to the
people
residing in the region where it was grown.

You are aware that the traditional society does not exist anywhere in the
world. Big business, with the active support of the authorities, has taken
over the land so much
so that it is the big business that decides as to how land would be used,
what crop
pattern would be followed, what practice-sustainable or otherwise- would be
pursued as well as where and how the produce would be disposed off.

Governments also interfere and intervene through ownership to land,
subsidies
and incentives, price fixing and procurement. Though the governments take a
plea
that they are doing this to assure minimum food to the poorest, the
experience is that
this takes away food security and supply from the poor.

Powerful nations like the USA and EU members influence and manipulate the
entire
world trade in the manner that help their own design. What is the food
security to the poor? The authors have acknowledged that 800 million world
citizens are suffering perennially from starvation and malnutrition. It is
wellknown but the governments
do not acknowledge that the number is highly underestimated.

We are surprised that the authors have not taken cognizance of these forces
that
affect the poor. Would like to understand as to why these forces are not
enumerated
in the otherwise forthright article. Best wishes.

Kisan Mehta == Priya Salvi == Rajiv Bhatt
PRAKRUTI Tel: 00 91 22 2414 9688
----- Original Message -----
From: <livingontheland-request@lists.ibiblio.org>
To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 9:38 PM
Subject: Livingontheland Digest, Vol 15, Issue 14


>
Today's Topics:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Food systems and security: helping the poor to cope
> To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org, nmgreens@yahoogroups.com
> Message-ID: <200405261216330671.0B321306@mail.gilanet.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
>
> NEWS RELEASE
> Source: 'insights health' #5, id21, 2004
>
> Food systems and security: helping the poor to cope
>
> Food security can be defined as 'having enough physical, social and
> economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food'. Threats
> include the ability of people to deal with declining farm productivity
> or the loss of assets before or after harvest. Increasingly, the
> traditional rural focus of food security is shifting due to rapid
> urbanisation and growing urban slums.
>
> Approximately 800 million people in the developing world are
> undernourished and suffering from chronic hunger. Whilst food security
> is most at threat from political instability or civil conflict leading
> to situations of famine, it is also related to vulnerability of the poor
> to:
> * shocks e.g. droughts, floods, crop pests and diseases
> * seasonality e.g. periods of underemployment or prolonged dry spells
> * trends e.g. population growth or increasing water scarcity.
>
> Developing and promoting crop varieties which have a greater tolerance
> or resistance to adverse conditions can help to alleviate food
> insecurity. Early-maturing varieties of groundnut, chickpeas and beans,
> all important sources of protein for poor people, can pre-empt potential
> water scarcity later in the season. However, it is important to
> recognise that there are still many gains to be made from conventional
> breeding techniques. Improved management methods, such as seed priming
> are also contributing to better crop establishment.
>
Rural-urban migration is having a dramatic impact on food systems and
security.
A massive increase in urban and peri-urban livestock keeping, provides an
important source of income and nutrition for the landless. In both urban and
rural
areas, livestock keeping can act as an ultimate food security insurance
policy against
crop failure as it provides a source of nutritious milk and meat, and people
are able to
sell their animals for cash in times of extreme hardship. However, animals
must be
well maintained and kept healthy to ensure these insurance policies remain
viable.
>
Even if a good harvest is achieved, post-harvest losses of crops and fish
due to pests
and diseases can still devastate the livelihoods of poor people. In West
Africa, the
larger grain borer insect is capable of turning many maize and cassava
stores to dust. Research using natural predators, pheromone traps and
diatomaceous earths (naturally occurring mineral dusts) as alternatives to
expensive and potentially hazardous
pesticides, is proving successful in reducing its impact in Ghana and
Tanzania.
>
> In the fisheries sector, losses also occur throughout the supply chain
> in handling, transportation, processing and storage. Blowfly and hide
> beetle infestation in traditionally cured fish are a complex and
> important cause of nutritional and economic losses. Although research
> into physical (barriers to access) and chemical (insecticides, salting,
> plant-based repellents) methods have had successes, there is a need to
> tackle underlying causes. Current research in east India is addressing
> this issue by focusing on systemic studies of the forms and influences
> of infestation.
>
> A holistic food security policy should look at both pre- and
> post-harvest issues as well as socio-economic considerations such as
> equitable access to inputs, services and markets and the overall welfare
> of farming households as well as goals of increased yield or
> productivity. Agriculture can help contribute to long-term environmental
> sustainability through improving the efficiency of input and resource
> use. In all research, continued emphasis on integrated social and
> natural science partnerships will be vital to ensure food security and
> minimise the vulnerability of the poor in future years.
>
> -ends-
>
> NOTES FOR EDITORS
>
> This 'insights health' article was contributed by
> Dr. John Witcombe, Manager, Plant Sciences Programme, Centre for Arid
> Zone Studies, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK
> Email: j.r.witcombe@bangor.ac.uk
>
> John Sanchez, Manager, Post-Harvest Fisheries Programme, Natural
> Resources International Ltd, Park House, Bradbourne Lane, Aylesford,
> Kent ME20 6SN, UK
> Email: j.sanchez@nrint.co.uk
>
> Reproducing this article
> ***************************
> id21 encourages readers to reproduce its work. In the case of 'insights
> health' articles, copyright remains with the original authors. Unless
> rights are reserved in specific cases, however, any article may be
> copied or quoted without restriction, provided both the source
> ('insights health', id21) and authors are properly acknowledged and
> informed. Each article carries the author's contact details and id21 can
> be contacted at id21@ids.ac.uk
>
> The full issue of 'insights health #5'
> **********************************************






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