Rectification of hunger by 2022

The shooting population growth, rising energy costs, doubts about the adequacy of agricultural resource base. Disproportionate share of available food by the well to do, lagging behind a new agricultural knowledge and unfavorable weather conditions, natural calamities, etc. have given rise to pessimism about the ability of the earth to feed its people. Actually, hunger is not new; it is as old as history. The average food production in developing countries has crept upwards though it is not ahead of population growth. There is a greater scope for increasing food production in the developing countries; the yield per hectare in some of them is less than half of what it is in developed countries. The discoveries in agriculture are not lagging behind. International research has resulted in the production of high yielding varieties of cereals and horticultural crops for meeting the world food supply in some of the agricultural research institutes technological breakthroughs have occurred in fields, such as discoveries in biotechnology, GM foods, textured vegetable proteins, use of biofertilizers, nitrogen fixation for non-leguminous crops. Salt tolerant crops, multiple cropping system, improvedphotosynthesis and Computerized agriculture. Now foods can be obtained in future from non- conventional sources such as single cell protein of high quality by use of yeasts,

algae and fungi. With the theme “A Millennium Free From Hunger”. World Food Day 2002 invoked both a vision and a challenge. The vision was to live in a world

where everyone has enough to eat. The challenge was to make the vision a reality liberating nearly 840 million people from chronic hunger and the fear of starvation. This problem still remains this debilitating condition robs people especially children of physical. Health, the potential for prosperity and finally hope for a better future. About 20 per cent of the people in the developing world struggle to survive on diets that do not provide the basic energy they need to be active and productive. If nation has to be prosperous         and      peaceful,                      the population of the country should live without          hunger.                        Not      only     lack                  of carbohydrates as source of energy but micronutrient           deficiencies     also      affect children’s physical and mental growth.

Man needs adequate food which consists of wide range of nutrients for growth, development and to lead an active and healthy life. The nutrients include protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. Which are present in the food we eat daily among the poor particularly. there are serious deficiencies in the diets of our population such a Protein energy malnutrition (PEM) among preschool children, (ii) Vitamin A deficiency among children (ii) Iron deficiency anemia in all food as a basic human

right, an increased food availability that is far in excess of increased population, an extensive growth in household income, and a pervasive safety net of emergency assistance, entitlements, and special need programs. Thus ending hunger is both a deeply desired outcome and an extraordinary challenge entailing any additional cost adequate attention should be given to increase agricultural production by latest technique using high quality seed material and rural development in health, hygiene and nutrition.

There are at least five major requirements:

• A worldwide acceptance and implementation of food as a basic human right.
• A rapidly growing food supply
• Adequate household income
• Regional and international systems to provide for famine prevention, emergency assistance, and special needs
• An ability to cope with surprise, by achieving resilience and flexibility (famine prevention).

Causes of hunger

Five things that contribute to most of the world’s hunger are listed below:

• Poverty
• Armed Conflict
• Environmental overload
• Discrimination
• Lack of clout i.e. People who do not have power to protect their own interest are hungry. The burden of this condition falls most

acutely on children, women and elderly people

Effects of hunger

In the long run, the effects of chronic hunger are as devastating to communities. Regions and countries as is famine. Effects of chronic hunger includes

• High infant-mortality rates
• Vulnerability of common illnesses
• Increased risk of infection
• Impediments to development
• Impediments to economic growth

Faces of hunger

All of us have experienced short term hunger or hunger pangs, but for more than a billion people or about a sixth of the world’s population chronic hunger and nutrient deficiencies is an ever- present part of daily life. For them, hunger means a dietary intake that does not provide the kind and quantity of food that is needed for growth and activity and the maintenance of good health. As biologically-defined in this way, hunger comes in many disguises, four of which serve as indices of hunger in compiling global estimates. Four faces of hunger are:-

Starvation, the near absence of dietary intake suffered in the course of famines. Under nutrition, this is the chronic or seasonal absence of needed food proteins and caloric energy.

There is also the hidden hunger of Micronutrient deficiencies, of which three dominate such as dietary shortages of iron, iodine and vitamin A.

There are Nutrient-depleting diseases, in which dietary intake may not be

absorbed or is wasted by fever of parasites that are carried in the body.

As described in these four ways hunger, as used here, encompasses not only a shortage of food, but also the lack of food of adequate nutritional quality.

Future strategies

• Action should be taken to prevent the conversion of a high share of our food into nonfood products, which sometimes is used because of fuel scarcity, and to develop food from non-traditional sources
• Food is a more basic need of a man. Than shelter and clothing Scientific and technological improvements will help to meet the food needs of the future. There is a strong need that dietary promotion programmers’ should be carried out through establishing nutritional garden kitchen garden programmers in schools to educate children to fight against malnutrition by cultivating crops rich in vital

nutrients that may combat protein energy malnutrition (PEM).

• There should be highest priority to on-farm optimal utilization. Preservation and processing of inexpensive and indigenous nutritional protective food resources to improve nutritional status of our population. Such types of efforts will go a long way in overcoming the micronutrient deficiency without entailing any additional cost.
• Adequate attention should be given to increase agricultural production by latest technique using high quality seed material and rural development in health, hygiene and nutrition.

Thus it should be possible to have sufficient food for future generation we make honest effort and investment to develop and distribute new agricultural knowledge and reduce the rate of growth of population number. An alliance with the developing countries for achieving a common goal to fight against hunger should be our national agenda and one of the priorities for national economic and social advancement. In India women are great force contributing to agricultural production and thereby playing a crucial role in the activities such as livestock production, agro forestry, fishing and horticultural production. By and large, they have remained as silent workers or invisible hands in these processes However, if educated for nutritional importance of fruits and vegetables in their diet, rural women and youths can make a significant contribution in rural

development and thereby enhancing the gross national productivity. If educated properly regarding the recommended dietary allowances for their family, they can help to fight against hunger by effectively participating in several specialized trades in horticulture  gardens, post harvest loss management, value addition in processed products rich in. functional components, their packaging and storage at farm level.

To alleviate the lasting solution to chronic hunger efforts must address root causes, be sustainable (that is, programs must pay for themselves), and programmers’ must be implemented by local people for the long-term by implementing nutritional and health educational program. Women, children, and the sick have special needs for additional food, and programs to meet such needs are required in even wealthy countries (IA). Groups particularly among women, children and pregnant women (iv) iodine deficiency endemic goiter (v) B-complex deficiency. These deficiencies, if untreated or not prevented may lead to many disabilities the primary cause of malnutrition is inadequate and tautly diets. The nutrition scenario in the country among the poor is not very encouraging Above mentioned five major nutritional deficiencies occur widely among poor due to nationally inadequate diet, some time aggravated by infection etc.

Initiate to end India hunger

• Improving agriculture to boost incomes. The extreme poor often rely on farming for their livelihoods.

• Teaching shared responsibility for health and nutrition.
• Empowering  women in agriculture.
• Managing natural resources and preparing for disasters.
• Meeting Immediate Needs.