For community grain banks

By M. S. Swaminathan

ON APRIL 24, the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, released the Food Insecurity Atlas of Rural India prepared jointly by the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and the United Nations World Food Programme. Mr. Vajpayee stressed the need for achieving substantial freedom from hunger by August 15, 2007, which marks the 60th anniversary of our independence. The year 2007 is also the last year of the Tenth Five Year Plan. Mr. Vajpayee advocated a multipronged strategy to reach the goal of a hunger-free India, including the revitalisation of the earlier tradition of the more well-to-do looking after the hungry through community feeding programmes.

The food insecurity atlas of MSSRF & WFP reveals that every State in the country has its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the five major dimensions considered in the analyses. These are: availability of food, which is a function of production, access to food, which is related to purchasing power, absorption of food in the body, which is determined by the availability of safe drinking water, environmental hygiene, primary health care and primary education, vulnerability to transient hunger, which is related to natural and man-made calamities and disasters, and sustainability of production, which is influenced by the extent of attention given to the ecological foundations essential for sustained advances in production. The Atlas reveals that non-food factors, such as livelihood and income-earning opportunities, health care facilities, education, sanitation and environmental hygiene are as important for food security at the level of every individual, as factors relating to the availability of grain in the market and access to clean drinking water.

The analysis and Atlas reveal that access and sustainability should receive priority attention. For example, Punjab and Haryana now occupy the top position in relation to security of food availability. However, the two States are in a very unenviable position with reference to sustainability criteria such as forest cover, ground water exploitation, soil degradation and the use of nitrogen-fixing leguminous species in crop rotation.

Economic access to food is the major determinant of food security in most parts of India. Eastern India (West Bengal and Assam) is relatively food secure with reference to availability, but wanting in security with reference to food absorption and use. These States have to pay greater attention to environmental hygiene and safe drinking water. Tamil Nadu, which is good in food availability and absorption, is rather poor in food access. This is because of a high proportion of landless labour families in villages. Tamil Nadu will have to pay special attention to building the assets of the poor, including knowledge and skills. A transition from unskilled to skilled work and greater attention to non-farm employment will help end poverty-induced hunger.

Gujarat will have to pay special attention to water harvesting, conservation and sustainable and equitable use. Climate and disaster management are particularly important. The maps bring home a central lesson, that we have to shift our attention from the slogan, ``think globally, and act locally'' to ``think, plan and act locally, and support nationally and globally''. Fortunately, it is now possible to develop synergy between representative democracy (i.e. elected local bodies) and participatory democracy (i.e. gram sabhas) at the local level.The Altas provides an opportunity for State Governments to draw up food security balance-sheets based on strengths and weaknesses, and identify the ``hot spots'' with reference to endemic and transient hunger, as well as to open (i.e. protein-calorie under nutrition) and hidden (i.e. micronutrient deficiencies) hunger.

The provisional census 2001 figures reveal that our population is higher by nearly 20 million than expected and that sex ratio continues to be adverse to women (933 women per 1000 males). The sex ratio is even more adverse in the 0-6 age group, suggesting the possibility of increasing female foeticide. Fortunately, female literacy is improving and Madhya Pradesh has shown the way for achieving a quantum jump both in male and female literacy through its education guarantee programme. While we must relentlessly pursue the goals of literacy and health for all and gender justice and equity, we should take advantage of a rare and unique opportunity in the history of independent India provided by the growing grain stocks in Government godowns to leapfrog in our efforts to realise Gandhiji's vision of a hunger-free India.

Current Government stocks of wheat, rice and other grains exceed 45 million tonnes. The Government may have to purchase another 15 to 20 million tonnes of wheat and rice during the next few months. A considerable proportion of these stocks remains in gunny bags and temporary storage structures. The Union Government has announced a scheme for the construction of large numbers of rural godowns. Severe drought in several parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and other States is compounding the problems of poverty-induced endemic hunger and drinking water scarcity.

The time is therefore opportune to launch an imaginative community grain bank movement. On an average, one tonne of wheat or rice supports the food needs of five individuals in our country. Community grain banks each with 200 tonnes of wheat or rice or other locally acceptable staples such as ragi, jowar, bajra and maise could be established, to begin with, in ``hunger hotspot'' villages. Remote areas with poor communication such as the desert areas of Rajasthan and hill, tribal and drought- affected areas can be given priority in starting the community grain bank movement. And 25,000 grain banks can be established during the next few months if the Union Government will approve immediately the release of five million tonnes of grain for this purpose. Because large quantities of Government stocks are in gunny bags, it is easy to move them to the community grain banks, where they can be stored using the low-cost technology standardised by the Food Corporation of India. It will be sad if the Government sits over 60 million tonnes of grain, allowing some of it to rot, rather than take them to places where, in Gandhiji's words, ``God is Bread''.

Based on the experience of the initial 25,000 village-level grain banks, another 25,000 can be established later this year thus using 10 million tonnes of the surplus stock in a socially meaningful manner. Let the first year of the new millennium be a year of decisive action in our resolve to provide every individual an opportunity for a productive and healthy life.

The community grain banks can be sustained with locally-procured grains, wherever feasible. They should be linked to the rural godowns scheme. The banks could function under the overall umbrella of the gram sabha, and can be operated by local self- help groups of women and men. This will ensure their relevance to local conditions in addition to involving low transaction costs. The community grain banks could be used for initiating at the local level food-for-work, food-for-nutrition (i.e. distribution of food among pregnant and nursing mothers, infants and old and infirm persons), waste land and watershed development, ecological restoration of common property resources and for establishing community water banks. They can also be the vehicles for operating the targeted public distribution, Antyodaya Anna Yojana and other Central and State Government schemes. Thus, the community grain banks can become instruments of eco-restoration, water harvesting and hunger elimination.

While we should give the highest priority to improving food consumption and equitable distribution, we should not decelerate our efforts in improving agricultural production through yield improvement, higher factor productivity and better post-harvest management. Agricultural production, factor productivity and investment in irrigation and post- harvest and rural infrastructure are all declining. Prices of many agricultural commodities have collapsed and our farm families are in deep economic and psychological distress. This trend, if not arrested immediately, will lead to social chaos, since agriculture (crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, agro-processing and small scale agri- business) is not just a food producing machine, but is the backbone of the livelihood security system for nearly 700 million children, women and men in the country. There is no time to relax on the food production front, just because the major problem today is in the area of marketing and distribution. At the same time, we should not continue to remain silent spectators to the co-existence of grain mountains and hungry millions.

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