Development Service, the Mid-Day Meal Pro- gramme, and other programs initiated by interna- tional agencies like UNICEF and the World Food Programme) exist nationwide? Te answer is a lack of convergence and syn-
ergy between programs and across platforms. Te Food Security Act must therefore ensure that programs address all essential components of food security. Te draſt of the bill introduced to Parliament in December 2011 focused only on economic access to food without making explicit reference to the other essential components of food security, including access to clean drink- ing water, sanitation, primary healthcare, and nutritional education. In its current form, the bill also neglects to mention the role of farmers or of public participation, although the panchayat raj institutions (whose members are elected by residents of their villages) and particularly gram sabhas (which provide a meeting where residents can raise concerns) can play a vital role in ensur- ing the effective and non-corrupt administration of legal entitlements. To achieve widespread sustainable food and
nutrition security, the draſt legislation of the National Food Security Act will need to be care- fully reviewed and strategically revised. Te lifecycle approach to nutrition support should be embraced, and women should be granted legal entitlement as heads of household so that they are equally empow- ered to make financial and food-related decisions for their families. Te public distribution of food should be strengthened, and the food basket within it should be expanded beyond wheat and rice to include nutritious cereals like jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet), ragi (finger millet), and maize. Te Public Distribution System oſten sees diffi- culty with targeting, which can be a major source of corruption. In states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, governments may be unwilling to shiſt from their successful universal public distribution systems to a targeted national system, so an efficient system must have well-defined exclusion criteria and pro- mote a culture of honesty (since those who do not need social protection from public funds would not demand highly subsidized food). In 2012, we hope to see the world’s largest social protection scheme
86 FOOD POLICY TAKING SHAPE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
begin to enable India to reap a demographic divi- dend from its youthful population. With the right modifications and the will to
carry it out, the Food Security Act will also cre- ate a win–win situation for both resource-poor farmers and consumers. Procurement at a remuner- ative price will be the greatest stimulus for increas- ing farm productivity and production. For this reason, substituting cash for grains, while tempt- ing, must be avoided; currency can be printed, but grains can be produced only by farmers—who con- stitute nearly 700 million of India’s 1.2 billion peo- ple. It is the duty of a democratic society to ensure the well-being and survival of all people, and food security for all will help to assure income security for farm families.
China Feeding a Billion People
Jikun Huang, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China’s most significant food policy develop- ment in 2011 was its decision to put food security firmly at the top of its list of concerns by making three important policy decisions. First, the nation’s most important policy document—the Num- ber 1 Document—laid out plans to invest about US$630 billion in water conservancy in the next 10 years to combat increasing water scarcity. Tese plans include implementing institution and policy reforms to improve water-use efficiency. Second, China has released the 2012 Number 1
Document specifically focused on innovation in agricultural science and technology and boost- ing agricultural productivity. Te annual growth rate of public spending on agricultural research and development in real terms increased from an average of 16 percent from 2000–09 to more than 20 percent in 2010–11 and is expected to grow in the coming years. Tird, in November 2011 the national poverty
standard, measured as annual per capita income in rural areas, was set at 2,300 yuan (about US$365), almost double the poverty standard in 2009. Tis is
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