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India for five weeks with a team of other students from various
All the more, I saw that this issue was even apparent in the more
to feed a whole family. The crisis has affected the country drastically
this time, particularly in light of the Bengal Famine in the 1900s and its
lives and the political stability of the whole country. Current attitudes
Dr. Suman Sahai of the Gene Campaign (2008) believes that the
The first step to tackle the food crisis will be to radically overhaul
institutions like the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR),
Agriculture Universities and the food distribution systems. It is
disappointing that the agriculture scientific community has so far
made no statement no revealed any plans on how it proposes to
tackle the impact of climate change on agriculture.
Most experts feel that there is room for some optimism but that
solutions are hard to find. This paper will attempt to point out issues of
nations of the east and the industrialized nations of the west. NGOs
like the World Food Programme, United Nations and the IMF have
taken measures to improve the current situation in India. The IMF has
writes, it has also advocated a free trade economy and so, declares the
following:
growth rate to 6.7%. The United Nation’s ‘World Food Programme’ has
also been involved in slowing the food shortage progress. This NGO
has set up a country food program to target the most helpless groups,
especially young women and those who live in the most food insecure
of India’s 11th Five Year Plan and the United Nations Development
are not supportive of current U.S. government aid policy, and feel as
regards this may be true, and the fact that U.S. aid is such a small
portion of total GNP does little to disprove the argument. For countries
like India, that depend heavily on U.S. provisions to keep its population
exports keep India alive and make the country more cooperative to
western political policy, and so, the use of food in such a manner does
exported products. For the most part, these products are finished
for the goods, the country exports raw materials, some food items and
Canada, industrial production has been the “engine for growth”. The
relieving the current food crisis in India, may only ensure that it is
prolonged.
have the funds necessary for irrigation projects, artificial fertilizers, and
farm machinery. Without wealth, a country’s food output and its ability
and less than 35% is traded on the international market. This suggests
crisis, and the successful transfer of funds from the rich to the poor
the country will never again fall to once was known as the Bengal
famine in 1943, where close to four million people died. The Green
Revolution in India has claimed the period from 1967 to 1978, and
politically in the short run, the FAO still estimates that 61% of children
The underlying problem with the Green Revolution is that the Western
countries that did feel the need to help nations with massive famine
agriculture, however, did not teach the farmers how to use the tools in
pessimism when one looks for solutions to India’s food crisis is the
attitudinal characteristic of wealthier nations known as the “lifeboat
burden of the starving nations would swamp the survivors’ lifeboat and
the country has impacted the lives of people, and has economically
altered the production market. William Cline (2007), from the Center
Economics, articulates that India will most likely see a fall of 30-40% in
and you can see this more so in the countries closest to the equator.
Damages are greatest for countries like India and of its close proximity
going to higher levels hinders the crop tolerance levels. North India has
South Asia Region. He says that the rainy parts of India are only going
to get wetter, causing floods, and the arid areas are only to turn drier.
cyclones, sever droughts, and sea level rise have already touched
there usually exists some degree of social welfare program that assists
for later years, inhabitants of India have no financial security for their
turn creates the need for more security (in the form of children), which
leads to more people and more hunger. Individuals in India will not
reduce their desire for more children until they feel that progress is
being made that will ensure more minimum standard of living in the
their need for protein. The very ones who could lead the country out of
its predicament never really have the chance to make any valuable
contribution. The lower protein intake also takes its toll on the society’s
overall attitudes. Poor nations like India suffer from a vicious cycle that
contend that mothers’ milk is the best and safest of all foods, and that
For India, and some other third world countries affected by western
migrate to the cities are most likely to be affected by this new ideal.
become educated were largely trained to hold office and clerical type
jobs rather than being trained in technical skills. They were to become
agricultural technology.
The British did not suffer the critical food problems that their
children. The end result was that little effort was made to promote the
imagine how the situation would have changed had steps been taken
food shortage. For example, the Indian government had a policy that
in the cities sold wheat and rice at prices for below the existing market
their crops, the farmers stored their crops and sold them to the highest
bidder on the black market. The result was that people who needed it
programs may not be politically convenient for the next political party.
India’s present food crisis does not necessarily reside in the areas of
science and technology, but also in the economic, political, and social
feed and provide for less fortunate individuals half way around the
and poverty that exists in other areas of the world? For many, the
moral question is not only why should I do it, but also, would it be
state?
The questions that are raised are individual in nature but require
India will persist until such a time, as man is ready to remedy the