The 2014 World Food Day theme “Family Farming: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth” has been chosen to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers. It focuses world attention on the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment and achieving sustainable development. The UN General Assembly has also designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. So, the international community recognises the important contribution of family farmers to food security.
Rapid urbanisation in developing nations is accompanied by a rapid increase in poverty and food insecurity. This scenario is further aggravated by the fact that high food inflation, which by now is a global phenomenon, is expected to continue. The world’s population is likely to reach 9.1 billion by 2050. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that by 2050, global food demand will increase by 70 per cent to feed this population. This is going to put a tremendous pressure on the already scarce land and water resources implying an urgent need for an alternative way to combat food shortages.
A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. Ensuring food security ought to be an issue of great importance for a country like India, where more than one-third of the population is absolutely poor.
The report ‘Global Hunger Index’ (GHI) by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is based on three equally weighted indicators, namely, undernourishment (proportion of undernourished people as percentage of population), child underweight and child mortality. The GHI measures progress and failures in the fight against hunger. It ranks countries on a 100-point scale with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst, though neither of these extremes is achieved in practice. The higher is the score, the worse the food situation of a country. Values less than 4.9 reflect “low hunger”; values between 5 and 9.9 reflect “moderate hunger”, values between 10 and 19.9 indicate a “serious”; values between 20 and 29.9 are “alarming”; and values exceeding 30 are “extremely alarming” hunger problem. In India, the GHI is 17.8 and is coming under “serious” category. In Odisha, it is 23.8 and coming under alarming category.
Despite progress made, the level of hunger in the world is still “serious,” with 805 million people continuing to go hungry, according to estimates by the FAO. One-third of the world’s hungry people live in India. Because India is experiencing a shift over time from a largely rural and agrarian population to urban, non-agriculture centres. India has a population of 1.2 billion as per the 2011 Census and is the second most populous country after China. However, it is projected that India will be the world’s most populous country by 2025. By 2050, it will have over 1.6 billion people. Hence, with limited natural resources of water and land area and a vast majority of poor, the cities will be unsustainable. Good practice of urban agriculture is one of the solutions for food security in India.
Family farming is defined as a means of organising agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on nonwage family labour, both men and women. It is one of the most predominant forms of agriculture both in developing and in developed countries. The sector comprises a wide spectrum of farm sizes and types, ranging from very large land holdings in high-income economies that are easily cultivated by one or two family members with the use of labour-saving machinery and hired labour to the small holdings of a few hectares or less in low-income economies.
City planners have a unique opportunity to support, facilitate and lead food security initiatives at a local and community level through the decisions about the use of land. For instance, much productive agricultural land has been converted to other uses. During the planning stage, planners could be involved in collection of data on community food system and assessment on the impact of current planning on the local food system. Integration of agriculture with urban greening programmes can provide food to urban residents, reduce urban pollution and temperatures as well as offer recreation opportunities to improve quality of urban life. It demonstrates how urban agriculture livelihood can be integrated in spatial land use planning and improves urban land governance. location and peri-urban typology help understand the policy and practical premises that constrain urban agriculture livelihood integration in urban land use planning processes and land management principles.
Among global agricultural institutions, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has a longstanding role in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. With the support of its member-states and in collaboration with other intergovernmental organisations, the FAO has developed its extensive technical and policy resources primarily to address the rural side of agricultural production with a focus on farmers, including small farmers, in the developing world.
The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidised food grains to approximately two-thirds of the 1.2-billion people. It was signed into law on September 12, 2013. In India, the livelihood security of more than 50 per cent of the population depends on crop and animal husbandry, inland and marine fisheries, forestry and agro-forestry. Under such conditions, agriculture should be given top priority. The Good Practice of Urban Agriculture has to be linked with food system planning and land use planning of a city and its surroundings. There is a need for identification of land for urban development with agriculture. Agricultural land within urban area is to be protected under the Town and Country Planning Act. New townships should incorporate urban agriculture like city farming, horticulture, family farming, etc.; from the very beginning in the planning stage. This will provide food security and urban resilience in a sustainable way. Small family farms are the key to reduce poverty and improve global food security. Much of the world’s experience in sustainable farming systems has been gained by family-run farms. From generation to generation, family farmers have transmitted knowledge and skills, preserving and improving many practices and technologies that can support agricultural sustainability.
Throughout the country, farmers are using innovative techniques to produce and distribute food. Family farming is now being done on rooftops, in community gardens and anywhere there is space. Rooftop gardens are used in cities to reduce the city’s temperature, particularly the heat island effect, greenhouse gas emissions and can be used for family farming. Backyard gardens and private open space can be used for food production.
To achieve food security to all, potentialities of urban agriculture should be seriously explored. There is a need for greater awareness about urban agriculture. Socially-oriented enterprises can play a significant role to spread knowledge-intensive techniques in this area. The Government at the same time should facilitate urban agriculture through various schemes for food security in the city. Economic policies should be reoriented to provide adequate support for India’s agriculture and its vast rural population. Besides, agriculture can provide the largest source of employment to the rural poor. This not only increases their incomes and food security but also facilitates reduction of poverty for a sustainable livelihood.
(Dr Mayarani Praharaj teaches in the Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)