Introduction
Terrorism, Climate Change and
Food Security are the important challenges before mankind now and in the days
to come. The first among the three challenges received a greater public
attention owing to its immediate and irreversible damage to life and property
of the people of any country irrespective of its influence in the global
politics. Unlike Terrorism, Climate Change and Food Security are a threat to
the very existence of mankind. The recent Global Food crisis has prompted the
Governments’ of several nations to put Food Security on the forefront of their
development agenda. Despite their best efforts, Governments fail to put a check
on these issues as they surface only after they assume serious proportions.
Scarcity comes in to existence when demand outpaces supply. Similarly, the
failure to ensure global food security can be attributed to a large set of
reasons strongly influencing the food production. Climate induced phenomenon
like raising global temperature, drought and flooding of low-lying areas,
anthropogenic influences like change in dietary patterns, shifting of food
crops to bio-fuel crops and natural processes like loss of productive top soil
due to water erosion and wind erosion are some of the important constraints
stymieing the Food production system and perpetuating global hunger.
Constraints marring the production of food
The recent escalation of world
food prices has transformed food insecurity from a difficult development
problem into an emergency. Going by the US Census Bureau report, the world population
is going to reach 9 billion by 2050. Countries listed as transition economies
will likely be moving in to the elite developed group and people of these
nations may take a diet, which is rich in protein. This will make the feed
crops compete fiercely with the food crops for land there by constraining food
production. Another important factor that’s going to be under tremendous strain
on all fronts is water. The surface irrigation water availability to
agricultural use is reducing due to excess surge in the urban water demand. Due
to heavy draw down and deep well explorations the ground water is becoming
scarce everywhere. In India, the rate of fall in water table is 2 – 3
meter/year currently, which is a serious indicator of the looming danger. Soil,
an important constituent of nature is slowly losing its life sustaining
character due to degradation resulting from surface erosion, salinity, water
logging and fertigation. According to one survey, 10% of world’s arable land is
affected by serious degradation. An important point to be noted is the loss of
potential agricultural land to urbanization, racecourses, golf courses,
industrial development, recreational activities and tourism. The bottom line is
that arable land is shrinking. Another threat in room for us is the Marine
crisis. Three quarters of world fisheries are over-exploited, while demand for
seafood continues to rise unabated. By one estimate two thirds of marine
fisheries will be in collapse by the 2020s and all of them by the 2040s. Climate
change indeed is the common thread connecting all afore said food production
constraints. The rapid growth of industry has led to much energy intensive
activities, which became inevitable to maintain the evolving life styles. This
led to the release of Green House gases, which are warming up the earth.
Unseasoned rains, increased day light hours, warmer nights are all attributed
to the Climate change phenomenon. A newly identified barrier to a sufficient
harvest is the knowledge drought - a worldwide decline in agricultural research
and development. There have been particular declines in Government funded
science and in on-farm production research intended to benefit farmers. It is
the synergy between these many constraints, which poses the greatest challenge.
Imperatives to mitigate the looming crisis
In the next fifty years, the
world should raise its food production by 110 percent using the degraded soils,
poor quality water, costlier nutrients, inferior technology and finally under
the effect of global climate change. Cutting the emissions by 33 percent will
takes us back to the 1970's climate equivalent. Investment in global food
security is now a defense spending and requires proportionate priority. Massive
increase of investments in agricultural research and development with special
focus on soil & water conservation, improving crop water use efficiency
and sub-surface drainage systems for waterlogged soils are imperative. Focus
should now shift to new participatory methods of extending food production technologies
so as to enable farmers to adapt quickly to the changing dynamics of climate.
Significant investment should be apportioned for developing agro – forestry.
Promoting low protein diet and vegetable consumption will sustain food crops
and makes food available to the poor at affordable prices. Phasing out
commercial wild harvests, including fishing and forestry will go a long way in
achieving environmental sustainability. Harvesting green energy from the wind
should be encouraged with good public spending and subsidies, which will have
significant impact on reducing the green house gas emissions.
Conclusion
It’s now time for us all to wake
up and take a serious stand to protect our food, our resources, our environment
and our future generations. The need of the hour is a more comprehensive
approach to simultaneously tackle these myriad constraints for the production
of food. Despite its existential nature, agriculture still continues to take a
back seat when juxtaposed with other priorities. Governments worldwide still
continue to deem the spending on agricultural research & development as
a bad investment. This mindset should change. After all, Food and natural
resources are lifelines for mankind to survive on planet earth.
