MGMT 542 - Realistic Ways to Address Food Security Challenges in India

This essay addresses the critical issue of food security in India, particularly focusing on the region of Goa. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of agriculture, nutrition, and health, arguing that prioritizing food security is essential due to India's large undernourished population and the environmental challenges faced by regions like Goa, such as overfishing and marine pollution. The paper suggests prioritizing the agriculture-nutrition linkage, empowering women, and strengthening governmental regulations related to trade and marine laws. It highlights the importance of availability, access, use, utilization, and sustainability in building a robust food and nutrition security framework. By prioritizing these solutions, Goa and India can improve health determinants, ensure access to proper food, and address the underlying issues of hunger and poverty, ultimately contributing to a more secure and sustainable future.

Running head: FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA
FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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It is a well-known fact that there exist a linkage between agriculture, nutrition and health
(Fiedor & Burda, 2014). Therefore food security is one of the most critical concerns of the
nation. The concept of food security is the state that is related to the availability of food. This
paper argues on the realistic ways of the region, Goa that is in India to address the challenges of
food security. The paper specifically discusses the issue of food security in Goa and the problems
related to it.
The region I am writing about:
According to De Schutter, (2014), the concept of food security can be defined as the existence of
the situation when all people have social, physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food. The amount of food accessed by them is available all the times, and it meets their
dietary needs as well as food preferences for an active and healthy life. The region I am writing
about is the country India. India has come a long way since 1945 and agriculture is the mainstay
of India’s economy (Mani, Joshi & Ashok, 2017).
Why is this the region’s most important priority?
According to Gillespie et al. (2013), this region that is India needs to prioritise the issue
of food security for it has one of the largest populations who are undernutrition. Goa has
developed a bad image for the marine incidents occurring. There is a need for food security in
this particular area. The farmers of the countries should be provided with best of methods to
cultivate adequate food for the country which would be possible by improving the terms of trade
(Das et al, 2018). Goa have already initiated food security laws and therefore, it is important to
prioritize the problem.
The reason for prioritizing:

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As explained by Shetty et al. (2014) there have been instances that has lead India to face
the issue of food security. According to Shenai-Tirodkar, Gauns and Ansari (2016), there have
been several issues faced in the region of Goa, the problems are directly related to food security
of the country. Overfishing is one of the main problem. It is a big problem that can cause long
term damage. The oceans are polluted by industries that are affecting the water bodies and water
animals that are impactful on nation’s food. The entire food chain is affected by the human
activities that needs to be undercontrolled.
The way prioritizing will help Goa:
According to Balaji, et al. (2017), in recent years India has seen impressive economic
growth, and despite the extension, the Goa is a struggling state with social issues such as hunger
and poverty. Goa can be a major source of food therefore, prioritizing food security will help
reducing the exploitation on oceans and marine. Although poverty has declined from 37.2 per
cent to 29.8% from 2004-05 to 2009-10 India needs to work for it for 29% of India is a large
population (Food security portal, 2012).
Another thing Goa can prioritize:
As explained by Shetty et al. (2014), the Agriculture–nutrition linkages: A preliminary
investigation for rural India gives the information that it is significant to have access to quality,
nutritious food for human existence. Also, having secure access to food can have several positive
impacts such as economic growth and job creation. There are four elements that build the
framework of food and nutrition security. The four parts are availability, access, use and
utilisation as well as the aspect of sustainability. All four elements play a vital role in making
food security. Food security is a concern for individuals as well as group.

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Reason this would be helpful:
Prioritising the issue is important and prioritising the solution to the problem is even
more critical. There is more and more population visiting Goa since it is a tourist attraction.
Therefore implementing strong rules are necessary. It is also a well-known factor that it is mostly
women who are directly related to children’s health and therefore, women should be empowered.
It is the government that needs to act most in order to empower women.
Reason another issue in Goa can help:
The reason mentioned above can help goa. The government is responsible for the
policies, rules and regulations. As mentioned by Shetty et al. (2014), the Goa government who is
responsible for the terms of the trade should take the responsibility of the farmers and fishermen
to ensure the nation’s production is secured. Therefore, the government holds the power to make
amendments.
Reason the main argument is more important issue to prioritize than the counter
There are several reasons for believing on the approaches that are determined to solve the
issue in Goa. Goa is a place of attraction with large population of tourist who care less about the
nature and ecology. Therefore the main argument is important. The direct and first method is to
provide food. Every step is connected to one another. The nutrition, agriculture and health are
interlinked and the approaches are made considering the following factors mention. Therefore,
the approaches that have been decoded have long term ways of helping the problem that is the
major issue (Ferrao, 2017).
Therefore, by prioritizing strict marine laws and role of government will help removing
the gloomy picture of Goa on the food security. Goa is the one region with the most significant

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number of hungry people in the world. Goa will make a substantial improvement in health
determinants, it will show a section that will have access to proper food. At the end of the paper
dragging from the pieces of evidence and researches discussed above it can be concluded that the
agriculture, nutrition and health are directly interlinked. Likewise, the food production for self,
women empowerment and terms of trading can be the main three priorities for eliminating the
problem.

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References:
Balaji, S. J., Jhajhria, A., Kumar, S., Immanuelraj, T. K., & Kar, A. (2017). Agriculture–nutrition
linkages: A preliminary investigation for rural India. Outlook on Agriculture, 46(4), 302-
308.
Das, B., Nair, B., Reddy, V. K., & Venkatesh, P. (2018). Evaluation of multiple linear, neural
network and penalised regression models for prediction of rice yield based on weather
parameters for west coast of India. International journal of biometeorology, 62(10), 1809-
1822.
De Schutter, O. (2014). UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food. Report on agroecology and
the right to food.
Ferrao, R. (2017). Food Security in India. Braz. J. Int'l L., 14, 114.
Fiedor, J., & Burda, K. (2014). Potential role of carotenoids as antioxidants in human health and
disease. Nutrients, 6(2), 466-488.
Food security portal, (2012), India, retrieved from: http://www.foodsecurityportal.org/india
Gillespie, S., Haddad, L., Mannar, V., Menon, P., Nisbett, N., & Maternal and Child Nutrition
Study Group. (2013). The politics of reducing malnutrition: building commitment and
accelerating progress. The Lancet, 382(9891), 552-569.
Shenai-Tirodkar, P. S., Gauns, M. U., & Ansari, Z. A. (2016). Concentrations of heavy metals in
commercially important oysters from Goa, Central-West coast of India. Bulletin of
environmental contamination and toxicology, 97(6), 813-819.

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Shetty, P. K., Manorama, K., Murugan, M., & Hiremath, M. B. (2014). Innovations that shaped
Indian Agriculture-then and now. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 7(8), 1176-
1182.