India’s Water and Sanitation Crisis: The Impact of Public Defecation on Food Security and Malnutrition
Added on 2023-05-29
14 Pages7765 Words393 Views
1
Marisa Villarreal
McCutcheon High School
Lafayette, Indiana
India, Factor 9: Water and Sanitation
Marisa Villarreal is a junior at McCutcheon High School
in Lafayette, Indiana. Marisa was introduced to the
World Food Prize through Mrs. Abi Bymaster, a Project
Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences teacher at
McCutcheon. After her experience at the 2015 Global
Youth Institute, Marisa was able to strengthen her
passion for solving food insecurity and her desire to
empower women all over the globe. Eventually, Marisa
would like to travel to India and participate in either
humanitarian work or research. Marisa would like to
thank Ms. Abi Bymaster and Ms. Sarah Powley for the countless revisions and their
undying love and support.
McCutcheon High School is in Lafayette, Indiana and is working to inform all of its
students about food insecurity and its presence not only around the globe, but in their
own community.
India: Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation for the Rural Population
“In a world of plenty, no one, not a single person, should go hungry” (Harvest2050).
These are the words of Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, when he
spoke at the Rio+20 and G20 Conferences in June of 2012. Unfortunately, there are
people that are still going hungry; in fact, about a quarter of the world’s undernourished
people reside in India (“India,” World Food Programme). Besides food insecurity, India
struggles with a lack of sanitation and a lack of accessibility to clean water. In India,
approximately 626 million people practice public defecation, a statistic that accounts for
almost three-quarters of the Indian population (“Water Sanitation Health- Fast Facts”).
Only a quarter of the total population in India has drinking water on their premises and
of that, twenty-five percent, sixty-seven percent of those households do not treat their
drinking water ("Water, Environment and Sanitation"). Thus, water is consumed despite
being infested with chemicals and/or bacteria. The result: disease and malnutrition. This
problem will only continue to grow as India’s population is expected to reach 1.69 billion
people by 2050 (Goswami).
Public defecation goes hand in hand with unclean drinking water and leads to disease
and malnutrition and thus pollution caused by feces mixing in with crops and water. In
addition, this lack of sanitation is exacerbated by a lack of hygiene products, specifically
for young women, a problem that becomes an impediment not only to their education,
but to their lives. These conditions are all interconnected but can be resolved by a
hygienic environment in India.
Marisa Villarreal
McCutcheon High School
Lafayette, Indiana
India, Factor 9: Water and Sanitation
Marisa Villarreal is a junior at McCutcheon High School
in Lafayette, Indiana. Marisa was introduced to the
World Food Prize through Mrs. Abi Bymaster, a Project
Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences teacher at
McCutcheon. After her experience at the 2015 Global
Youth Institute, Marisa was able to strengthen her
passion for solving food insecurity and her desire to
empower women all over the globe. Eventually, Marisa
would like to travel to India and participate in either
humanitarian work or research. Marisa would like to
thank Ms. Abi Bymaster and Ms. Sarah Powley for the countless revisions and their
undying love and support.
McCutcheon High School is in Lafayette, Indiana and is working to inform all of its
students about food insecurity and its presence not only around the globe, but in their
own community.
India: Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation for the Rural Population
“In a world of plenty, no one, not a single person, should go hungry” (Harvest2050).
These are the words of Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, when he
spoke at the Rio+20 and G20 Conferences in June of 2012. Unfortunately, there are
people that are still going hungry; in fact, about a quarter of the world’s undernourished
people reside in India (“India,” World Food Programme). Besides food insecurity, India
struggles with a lack of sanitation and a lack of accessibility to clean water. In India,
approximately 626 million people practice public defecation, a statistic that accounts for
almost three-quarters of the Indian population (“Water Sanitation Health- Fast Facts”).
Only a quarter of the total population in India has drinking water on their premises and
of that, twenty-five percent, sixty-seven percent of those households do not treat their
drinking water ("Water, Environment and Sanitation"). Thus, water is consumed despite
being infested with chemicals and/or bacteria. The result: disease and malnutrition. This
problem will only continue to grow as India’s population is expected to reach 1.69 billion
people by 2050 (Goswami).
Public defecation goes hand in hand with unclean drinking water and leads to disease
and malnutrition and thus pollution caused by feces mixing in with crops and water. In
addition, this lack of sanitation is exacerbated by a lack of hygiene products, specifically
for young women, a problem that becomes an impediment not only to their education,
but to their lives. These conditions are all interconnected but can be resolved by a
hygienic environment in India.
2
The median household size in rural India is approximately four to five members
(Shrinivasan). In fact, around 47.1% of rural households have four or fewer members
(Shrinivasan). 70% of households are traditional nuclear families: one married couple
and one to two children. However, the shrinking amount of the Indian birth rate has not
been effective enough to prevent the overall population from increasing ("Why Does
India Have So Many People?"). The main grains that are eaten in India are wheat and
rice, but recently, consumption of fruit has increased. Mangoes, bananas, and coconuts
are some of the most favored fruits in the area. Potatoes, tomatoes, and onions are the
main vegetables in an Indian family’s diet. Milk, fish, chicken, goat meat and eggs are
also commonly eaten throughout the family. Regarding health care, “network of
government-owned and -operated sub-centres, primary health centres (PHCs) and
community health centres (CHCs) distribute primary health care to rural villagers but 80%
of outpatient care in an Indian rural medical facility is under the supervision of
practitioners who have no formal qualifications for the job, sometimes even lacking a
high school diploma” (Panagariya).
Since the early 1970’s, farm size in India “has declined from 1.84 ha to 1.32 ha” (Chand,
Prasanna, Singh). The major crops in India can be divided into four categories: food
grains, cash crops, plantation crops, and horticulture crops (“Major Crops of India”).
Rabi, Kharif, and Zaid crops are the categories of Indian crops that are classified based
on season. Rabi crops are the spring harvest/winter crop. These crops are “sown in
October last and are harvested in March and April” (“Major Crops of India”). A Kharif
crop is classified as the summer, or monsoon crop, and is “sown with the beginning of
the first rains in July” (“Majors Crops of India”). Zaid crops are grown in various parts
of the country between the months of March and June.
The most common form of agricultural production is subsistence farming, but plantation
agriculture and shifting agriculture are also common (Mondal). Plantation agriculture
involves large-scale production where only one type of crop is cultivated. “Plantation
crops are usually raised on large estates, of more than 40 hectares (100 acres) each”
(Chand). Farmers in the United States preserve soil fertility via annual crop rotation;
Indian farmers practice crop shifting. Crop shifting involves planting and harvesting a
designated plot of land. After a period of time, the field is set to lay fallow and the soil is
replenished with its natural nutrients.
Barriers to food security in an Indian family can come in the forms of insufficient food
production and high exposure to vagaries of weather (“Agriculture in India: Both Weak
and Strong”). “India’s agricultural sector is also characterized by insufficient
productivity, due to several factors such as the miniaturization of agricultural players,
limited use of mechanized farming techniques, a lack of adequate equipment and
infrastructure and the harmful consequences of the “Green Revolution” of the 1970s”
(“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and Strong”). The size of the average farm is an
outcome of the “post-independence farm reforms of 1947, which aimed to redistribute
land to poor farmers by placing limitations on the size of real estate” (“Agriculture in
India: Both Weak and Strong”). Due to a limited amount of farmland within the area,
The median household size in rural India is approximately four to five members
(Shrinivasan). In fact, around 47.1% of rural households have four or fewer members
(Shrinivasan). 70% of households are traditional nuclear families: one married couple
and one to two children. However, the shrinking amount of the Indian birth rate has not
been effective enough to prevent the overall population from increasing ("Why Does
India Have So Many People?"). The main grains that are eaten in India are wheat and
rice, but recently, consumption of fruit has increased. Mangoes, bananas, and coconuts
are some of the most favored fruits in the area. Potatoes, tomatoes, and onions are the
main vegetables in an Indian family’s diet. Milk, fish, chicken, goat meat and eggs are
also commonly eaten throughout the family. Regarding health care, “network of
government-owned and -operated sub-centres, primary health centres (PHCs) and
community health centres (CHCs) distribute primary health care to rural villagers but 80%
of outpatient care in an Indian rural medical facility is under the supervision of
practitioners who have no formal qualifications for the job, sometimes even lacking a
high school diploma” (Panagariya).
Since the early 1970’s, farm size in India “has declined from 1.84 ha to 1.32 ha” (Chand,
Prasanna, Singh). The major crops in India can be divided into four categories: food
grains, cash crops, plantation crops, and horticulture crops (“Major Crops of India”).
Rabi, Kharif, and Zaid crops are the categories of Indian crops that are classified based
on season. Rabi crops are the spring harvest/winter crop. These crops are “sown in
October last and are harvested in March and April” (“Major Crops of India”). A Kharif
crop is classified as the summer, or monsoon crop, and is “sown with the beginning of
the first rains in July” (“Majors Crops of India”). Zaid crops are grown in various parts
of the country between the months of March and June.
The most common form of agricultural production is subsistence farming, but plantation
agriculture and shifting agriculture are also common (Mondal). Plantation agriculture
involves large-scale production where only one type of crop is cultivated. “Plantation
crops are usually raised on large estates, of more than 40 hectares (100 acres) each”
(Chand). Farmers in the United States preserve soil fertility via annual crop rotation;
Indian farmers practice crop shifting. Crop shifting involves planting and harvesting a
designated plot of land. After a period of time, the field is set to lay fallow and the soil is
replenished with its natural nutrients.
Barriers to food security in an Indian family can come in the forms of insufficient food
production and high exposure to vagaries of weather (“Agriculture in India: Both Weak
and Strong”). “India’s agricultural sector is also characterized by insufficient
productivity, due to several factors such as the miniaturization of agricultural players,
limited use of mechanized farming techniques, a lack of adequate equipment and
infrastructure and the harmful consequences of the “Green Revolution” of the 1970s”
(“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and Strong”). The size of the average farm is an
outcome of the “post-independence farm reforms of 1947, which aimed to redistribute
land to poor farmers by placing limitations on the size of real estate” (“Agriculture in
India: Both Weak and Strong”). Due to a limited amount of farmland within the area,
3
modernized farming techniques are inapplicable and an environment surrounded by
outdated equipment leads to a decrease in food productivity. Due to a combined low
income and a lack of knowledge, few farmers invest in the infrastructure for their farms.
This lack of storage facilities decreases the ability to maintain crops leading to a lack of
crops and can then lead to losses, sometimes representing forty percent of the harvest
(“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and Strong”). “Additionally, only 30 percent of usable
farmland is equipped with irrigation systems” (“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and
Strong”). The “Green Revolution” was launched by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in
the late 1970s. “The act boosted the agricultural sector by increasing yields, but also had
the disadvantage of increasing production costs” (“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and
Strong”). A rise in production costs led to farmers’ inability to compete and left them in
debt. In addition, India’s agriculture production depends highly on the monsoon season.
“Bad” monsoons provide either insufficient or excessive levels of rain, both of which can
cause decreases in crop yields. Monsoons that bring excessive levels of rain lead to floods.
With these floods, the feces from public defecation can be carried widely and
contaminate crops, water, and homes, thus spreading disease.
Twenty-six rupees per day is the official poverty line for Indian villagers (Krasny).
Although 4,500 rupees a month (Rs. 150 a day) is the National Mean Income for India,
seventy-five percent of the population live below that (Krasny). With a limited amount
of money, meals must be strategically planned. Shortcuts on any cost whatsoever will
always be chosen. Choosing to walk long distances rather than spending money on a
mode of transportation limits the amount of jobs that are available to villagers. The rural
residents turn to farming or anything else within their village that may provide any kind
of income.
Although India has one of the largest road systems in the world, the majority of the 2.7
million km network is in poor condition ("Improving Connectivity Across Rural India”).
With limited access to all weather roads in rural areas, the monsoon season discourages
travel and prevents a farmer from traveling to the market to sell their crops. Not only is
the farmer not earning a profit from his crops, but those that buy food from the market
have very limited choices. If the food is to eventually get to market, the nutrients within
the crop may not be as beneficial when compared to the nutrition that would have been
available when the food was originally harvested.
According to an estimate from UNICEF, nearly one-half of India’s children are
malnourished (“The Final Frontier”). “According to the UN, countries where open
defecation is most widely practiced have the highest number of deaths of children under
the age of five, as well as high levels of under nutrition, high levels of poverty and large
disparities between the rich and poor” (“India Tops in Open Defecation”). “India is the
open defecation capital of the world with 638 million people defecating in the open”
(“Campaign”). Of the one billion people worldwide that do not have access to a toilet,
Indians make up 600 million (“The Final Frontier”). Public defecation can be located
virtually anywhere, but is most commonly found close to a water supply due to the easy
access people have to rinse themselves off with the nearby water. That means that local
modernized farming techniques are inapplicable and an environment surrounded by
outdated equipment leads to a decrease in food productivity. Due to a combined low
income and a lack of knowledge, few farmers invest in the infrastructure for their farms.
This lack of storage facilities decreases the ability to maintain crops leading to a lack of
crops and can then lead to losses, sometimes representing forty percent of the harvest
(“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and Strong”). “Additionally, only 30 percent of usable
farmland is equipped with irrigation systems” (“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and
Strong”). The “Green Revolution” was launched by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in
the late 1970s. “The act boosted the agricultural sector by increasing yields, but also had
the disadvantage of increasing production costs” (“Agriculture in India: Both Weak and
Strong”). A rise in production costs led to farmers’ inability to compete and left them in
debt. In addition, India’s agriculture production depends highly on the monsoon season.
“Bad” monsoons provide either insufficient or excessive levels of rain, both of which can
cause decreases in crop yields. Monsoons that bring excessive levels of rain lead to floods.
With these floods, the feces from public defecation can be carried widely and
contaminate crops, water, and homes, thus spreading disease.
Twenty-six rupees per day is the official poverty line for Indian villagers (Krasny).
Although 4,500 rupees a month (Rs. 150 a day) is the National Mean Income for India,
seventy-five percent of the population live below that (Krasny). With a limited amount
of money, meals must be strategically planned. Shortcuts on any cost whatsoever will
always be chosen. Choosing to walk long distances rather than spending money on a
mode of transportation limits the amount of jobs that are available to villagers. The rural
residents turn to farming or anything else within their village that may provide any kind
of income.
Although India has one of the largest road systems in the world, the majority of the 2.7
million km network is in poor condition ("Improving Connectivity Across Rural India”).
With limited access to all weather roads in rural areas, the monsoon season discourages
travel and prevents a farmer from traveling to the market to sell their crops. Not only is
the farmer not earning a profit from his crops, but those that buy food from the market
have very limited choices. If the food is to eventually get to market, the nutrients within
the crop may not be as beneficial when compared to the nutrition that would have been
available when the food was originally harvested.
According to an estimate from UNICEF, nearly one-half of India’s children are
malnourished (“The Final Frontier”). “According to the UN, countries where open
defecation is most widely practiced have the highest number of deaths of children under
the age of five, as well as high levels of under nutrition, high levels of poverty and large
disparities between the rich and poor” (“India Tops in Open Defecation”). “India is the
open defecation capital of the world with 638 million people defecating in the open”
(“Campaign”). Of the one billion people worldwide that do not have access to a toilet,
Indians make up 600 million (“The Final Frontier”). Public defecation can be located
virtually anywhere, but is most commonly found close to a water supply due to the easy
access people have to rinse themselves off with the nearby water. That means that local
4
villagers retrieve and ingest water that is laden with bacteria. Worms can be ingested as
well. This entrance of pathogens to the human body leads to diseases such as enteropathy
and diarrhea. Enteropathy does not allow calories and nutrients to be absorbed, which
offers an explanation for the unfaltering, increasing rate of malnourishment in Indian
children. Diarrheal diseases go hand in hand with the deaths of thousands of young
children each year in resource-limited countries such as India (Patil, et al).
Approximately 1,000 Indian children die every day due to diarrhea (“Campaign”). These
diseases affect the health and growth of the local children. The direct contact with
pathogen-filled human feces leads to contamination of food and drinking water (Patil, et
al). As the population continues to grow, the amount of individuals practicing public
defecation will increase, therefore causing the intermixing of human feces and crops
inevitable.
Despite pledging to install toilets in every home, the Indian government has put forth
minimal effort to inform its citizens about the consequences of unsanitary practices.
According to The Guardian, “India still needs to build 100 million toilets to provide
everyone access, but experts say the country also needs to invest more in campaigns to
change behaviours” (“Billions Have No Access to Toilets”). Unfortunately, the Indian
government has “recently slashed its sanitation budget in half” (“Billions Have No
Access to Toilets”). Due to a lack of attention to the issue, meager funds have produced
insufficient solutions.
At the governing body meeting of State Water and Sanitation Mission in Bhubaneswar,
the State Government ordered the Rural Development Department to not participate in
any new Pipe Water Supply (PWS) projects unless the community is willing to take up
the operation and to hand existing PWS projects to their villages by March 2016 (Express
News Service). However, Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati spoke to take up capacity
building activities for local NGOs and community level organizations and include other
self-help groups (SHGs) as coordinators in the rural sanitation campaign (Express News
Service). The decision that all Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), the social welfare flagship
program that was created by the Indian government to provide rural housing for the poor,
beneficiaries would be connected with Swachh Bharat Mission, an Indian cleanliness
campaign formed in 2014, for the construction of toilets and would have no IAY house
treated complete without a toilet was also decided (Express News Service). The Rural
Development Department will initiate a campaign to influence the above poverty line
households to sacrifice the grant involved with toilet constructions which is supposed to
be for the below poverty line families (Express News Service). A relationship amongst
the department and the Community Led Total Sanitation campaign volunteers has been
ordered by the Chief Secretary that will be focused on the assortment of other
development programs. According to a recent survey, approximately eighty lakh, or
eighty hundred thousand, rural households do not have a latrine and five lakh toilets are
in need of renovating (Express News Service). During 2015-2016, a goal of twelve lakh
household latrines, 181 community toilets, and 102 solid and waste management plants
are set to be constructed (Express News Service). According to The Guardian, “379
villagers retrieve and ingest water that is laden with bacteria. Worms can be ingested as
well. This entrance of pathogens to the human body leads to diseases such as enteropathy
and diarrhea. Enteropathy does not allow calories and nutrients to be absorbed, which
offers an explanation for the unfaltering, increasing rate of malnourishment in Indian
children. Diarrheal diseases go hand in hand with the deaths of thousands of young
children each year in resource-limited countries such as India (Patil, et al).
Approximately 1,000 Indian children die every day due to diarrhea (“Campaign”). These
diseases affect the health and growth of the local children. The direct contact with
pathogen-filled human feces leads to contamination of food and drinking water (Patil, et
al). As the population continues to grow, the amount of individuals practicing public
defecation will increase, therefore causing the intermixing of human feces and crops
inevitable.
Despite pledging to install toilets in every home, the Indian government has put forth
minimal effort to inform its citizens about the consequences of unsanitary practices.
According to The Guardian, “India still needs to build 100 million toilets to provide
everyone access, but experts say the country also needs to invest more in campaigns to
change behaviours” (“Billions Have No Access to Toilets”). Unfortunately, the Indian
government has “recently slashed its sanitation budget in half” (“Billions Have No
Access to Toilets”). Due to a lack of attention to the issue, meager funds have produced
insufficient solutions.
At the governing body meeting of State Water and Sanitation Mission in Bhubaneswar,
the State Government ordered the Rural Development Department to not participate in
any new Pipe Water Supply (PWS) projects unless the community is willing to take up
the operation and to hand existing PWS projects to their villages by March 2016 (Express
News Service). However, Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati spoke to take up capacity
building activities for local NGOs and community level organizations and include other
self-help groups (SHGs) as coordinators in the rural sanitation campaign (Express News
Service). The decision that all Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), the social welfare flagship
program that was created by the Indian government to provide rural housing for the poor,
beneficiaries would be connected with Swachh Bharat Mission, an Indian cleanliness
campaign formed in 2014, for the construction of toilets and would have no IAY house
treated complete without a toilet was also decided (Express News Service). The Rural
Development Department will initiate a campaign to influence the above poverty line
households to sacrifice the grant involved with toilet constructions which is supposed to
be for the below poverty line families (Express News Service). A relationship amongst
the department and the Community Led Total Sanitation campaign volunteers has been
ordered by the Chief Secretary that will be focused on the assortment of other
development programs. According to a recent survey, approximately eighty lakh, or
eighty hundred thousand, rural households do not have a latrine and five lakh toilets are
in need of renovating (Express News Service). During 2015-2016, a goal of twelve lakh
household latrines, 181 community toilets, and 102 solid and waste management plants
are set to be constructed (Express News Service). According to The Guardian, “379
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