Food Security in South Asia Suresh Babu

Introduction
Achieving food security for its inhabitants remains a major challenge for South Asia. This paper identifies major causes of food insecurity due to poor access to food in South Asian countries. Presenting empirical evidence on the extent of food insecurity in South Asia, this paper reviews technological, institutional, and policy challenges facing policymakers in increasing access to food. The paper introduces emerging strategies and options for meeting food security needs by identifying various factors that hinder the appropriate implementation of policies and programs that aim at increasing food access. Examples of successful food and nutrition intervention programs both within and outside of the region, are also presented.

In order to understand the challenges that countries in the South Asian region face in achieving food security it is important to review the current status of food production in the region. The challenges of improving food security in the region relate to a complete set of constraints along the food supply chain from production to marketing and distribution (Babu, et al., 2005). Evaluating past solutions in the region for their impact is important to refine and redefine appropriate approaches for food security interventions.

Status of Food Production
The countries in the region have been growing much faster in the last decade as compared to the decades following independence. Figure 1 presents the rate of economic growth in South Asian countries during the years 1997-2002. With the exception of Pakistan, all countries in the region have experienced a growth rate of more than 4 per cent over the last several years. In Sri Lanka and India the growth rates have surpassed 6 per cent in selected years. Such increased growth in the national income should lend itself to improved food security for the population. Yet, human development across the countries in South Asia lags behind other developing regions as shown by the monitoring progress in human development across South Asia (Human Development Report, 2004).

Figure 2. Monitoring Progress in Human Development across South Asia

The human development index during 1985-2002 is given in Figure 2 and shows an increasing trend in all countries, although it is at a lower level in Pakistan and Nepal. Another indicator of growth and economic development in developing countries is the share of agriculture in the national income (GDP). Figure 3 shows the share of agriculture in the national income for South Asian countries during the years 1997-2002. In general, the share of agriculture in GDP ranges between 20-30 per cent, except in Nepal which is closer to 40 per cent. The share of agriculture in GDP has been declining in all countries except Nepal. Although agriculture continues to contribute less and less to the national income the percentage of the population who depend on agriculture remains between 50-60 per cent in these countries. This indicates that the value of production in agriculture as well as the labour productivity level continues to be low.

Figure 3. Share of Agriculture in GDP

Source: World Development Indicators, 2004

Table 1 provides selected information on food production, food exports, food imports, and food balance in South Asian countries for the year 2002. All countries in the region have been producing an adequate amount of food at the national level. In fact, all the countries have been exporting some food although the amount of food exported from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka continues to be insignificant. Food imports are very high for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka while some food is also imported by India, Nepal and Pakistan. Food balance is negative only for Bangladesh indicating that their imports are more than their exports and the local food production does not fully meet the local food requirements. While the growth rate of the South Asian economies has been increasing over the last ten years, and the poverty in the region has been declining, the region continues to be home to about 40 per cent of the world's poor.

Table 1: Food Security in South Asia (1000 tonnes)

Country Food Production Food Exports Food Imports Food Balance Bangladesh 26,924 1.6 2,827 -4,601 India 1,74,655 9,490 56 23,826 Nepal 5,839 11 39 57 Pakistan 24,936 2,966 288 3,818 Sri Lanka 1,938 9.8 1,307 252

Source: FAO, 2004 Figures in thousand metric tones for 2002

Table 2. Comparative Performance in Poverty Reduction

Region Living on less than $1 a day Total population Undernourished People without access to improved water sources Sub-Saharan Africa 323 185 273 East Asia and Pacific 261 212 453 South Asia 432 312 225

All figures in millions for 2000. Source: World Development Indicators, 2004

Table 2 presents a comparative performance in poverty reduction in various regions of the world. South Asia still has the highest number of people living on less than one dollar a day followed by Sub Saharan Africa and East Asia and Pacific. South Asia also leads the world's regions in the total number of undernourished people. It has improved in terms of providing better access to water as compared to Sub Saharan Africa.

The percentage of those living below the poverty line in South Asia has been on the decline in general, although in comparing the early 1990s to the later years of the 1990s, a decline in poverty is noted in Bangladesh and India while the percentage of poor increased in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Figure 4 presents the percentage of people living below the poverty line during the 1990s in South Asia.

The prevalence of child malnutrition is considered one of the final welfare indicators of a society. In South Asia, child malnutrition is very high compared to other impoverished regions of the world. India ranks the highest in the prevalence of child malnutrition -- measured as the percentage of children below 5 years of age who

Figure 4. Percent of People below Poverty Line in South Asia

Source: World Development Indicators, 2004

Figure 5. Prevalence of Child Malnutrition in South Asia

Figure 4. Percent of People below Poverty Line in South Asia Source: World Development Indicators, 2004

have less weight for their age -- with 53 per cent of children under 5 years of age below their weight for age followed by Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (Figure 5). Even in Sri Lanka, where considerable progress has been made towards reducing child malnutrition through social sector development one third of the children under 5 are still chronically malnourished. This is also reflected in the prevalence of under nutrition as reflected by the amount of calories consumed by the population.

Figure 6 presents the prevalence of under-nutrition in South Asia. About 35 per cent of the population is undernourished in Bangladesh followed by 25 per cent in India, 20 per cent in Nepal and Pakistan, and 25 per cent in Sri Lanka. There has been little change in the prevalence of under-nutrition in South Asian countries from

Figure 6. Prevalence of Undernourishment in South Asia

Figures are % of populationSource: World Development Report, World Bank, 2002

the early 1990s through the late 1990s. Thus, the level of food insecurity has not shown much change during the 1990s. Furthermore, a recent comparative estimate of percentage reduction in undernourishment (Figure 7) during the 1990s shows India has only reduced its food security by a 16 per cent reduction in the level of under-nutrition compared to other countries such as China, Indonesia, Malawi, and Kenya which have made more than a 25 per cent reduction in the level of undernourishment during the last decade (Economist, 2004).

Figure 7. Percentage Reduction in Undernourishment between 1990-2000

The food security status in South Asia is reflected by about 303 million people who were food insecure in 2000 compared to 288 million people in 1991. This is an increase of 5 per cent in the region. Currently about 40 per cent of the food insecure people in the developing world live in South Asian countries, highlighting the gravity of the food security problem in South Asian countries (FAO, 2004).

Economic Reforms and Food Security
The national food security status of South Asian countries also reveals a positive trend. The countries have transformed themselves from food deficit countries in the 1960s and 1970s to food surplus countries in the 1980s and 1990s. However, increased food production has not been fully translated in terms of household and individual food security. This is partly due to a high level of poverty that coexists with nutritional and food insecurity. Furthermore, malnutrition remains a challenge even in urban areas where there has been a relative increase in income among the households. Higher prices paid to farmers for their produces have been partly responsible for a growth in the food grain reserves at the national level. Lower food prices have increased accessibility to food and increases prospects for exports of food. Yet food insecurity continues to be a major development challenge because of the low purchasing power of the majority of the population which is below the poverty line. Economic reforms and market liberalisation in the food and agriculture sector in South Asia have spurred private investments in high value agriculture such as fruits, vegetables, livestock and fisheries. However, it is not clear whether investments in high value crops will result in reducing food insecurity of the vulnerable sections of the population.

The emerging trends in food security intervention policies and programs show that there has been increased privatisation of food markets in South Asia. A case in point is Bangladesh. When the country was affected by severe floods in 1998, The Economist predicted that the country faced starvation and the death of about 20 million people, due to floods, which wiped out more than two thirds of the country's rice crop. Yet, Bangladesh did not see a single death due to starvation from the flood because it had developed its private sector to deal with food shortages. Bangladesh's private sector imported adequate amounts of food from India and other countries in the region to meet the deficits caused by the floods. Along with food aid, the private sector ‘helped in preventing starvation and death in Bangladesh’. This example shows that liberalising local markets and encouraging private sector participation will help in preventing starvation and death due to national disasters (Dorosh, et al., 2004).

There has been a considerable reduction in food subsidies in the countries of South Asia. Pakistan's experience in abolishing its wheat rationing system in the 1980s and allowing private traders to participate in food trade presents a stark contrast to Indian system of maintaining a huge level of subsidies through food distribution system to protect its vulnerable population (Islam and Garrett, 1997). There is also a diminishing role of the public sector participation in food distribution, particularly in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. There has been a shift from broad based public distribution system toward target interventions through social safety nets in the region (Babu, 2003).

Strategies and Options for Increasing Food Security
The major policy question that remains to be addressed in the South Asian region is: ‘Has a reduction in poverty led to greater food security in South Asia?’. Food security can be addressed through several options and strategies by using technology, institutions and policy alternatives. One of the reasons for continued food insecurity in the region is the low productivity of crops and livestock in the region as compared to many developing and developed countries. Increasing productivity of crops through increased investment in agriculture research and development that focuses on crops grown and consumed by the poor is needed. The investment in agriculture research as a percentage of agriculture GDP has been declining in many of the South Asian countries. The trend has to be reversed in order to develop new technologies that will reduce food insecurity. Bio-technology can improve crop productivity and food crops should be explored with the challenges in developing bio-technology policy, bio-safety regulations and capacity for using bio-technology. Increasing the nutritional content of food consumed by the population, as well as increasing the resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses through bio-technology can help solve the food insecurity problem in the region. The use of better technology for minimizing environmental harm from the intensive cultivation of food crops is also important. The use of remote sensing technology to minimise weather fluctuations will help in forewarning drought-related food production challenges.

There is a need for better linkages between agricultural research and technology-transfer. The extension systems that were successful in transferring technology to the farmers during the Green Revolution period have declined, both in terms of quantity and quality. Unless the extension systems of the South Asian

countries are revived through better partnership of public and private institutions, the adoption of new technologies by the farmers will lag behind. Use of information technology to transfer knowledge across the countries as well as within the countries is important. Understanding the benefit of information and communication technologies in transferring information for increasing the productivity of farmers will help in reducing food security. Furthermore, use of geographical information systems (GIS) and Geo Positioning Systems (GPS) for identifying opportunities for precision agriculture will help in reducing the waste of inputs such as water and fertiliser and in increasing the productivity of South Asian agriculture.

Institutions could also play an important role in improving access to food. Well functioning institutions that facilitate the smooth transfer of produced food to consumers are important. National level institutions such as the Public Distribution System in India should have adequate access to remote areas in order to improve food security at the local level. Food insecurity has been high in areas where the public distribution system has not been functioning effectively. The role of food parastatals as an institution in procuring and distributing food in the region must be revisited because it is becomingly increasing clear that the parastatals that participate in procurement and distribution of food have become inefficient partly due to poor governance and accountability. Reforming these institutions to better serve the poor by reducing cost and increasing benefit to the poor will improve access to food (Rashid, et al., 2005).

Good governance is fundamental for increasing access to food and reducing food insecurity. Pro-poor policies should target the most vulnerable sectors of society. Food entitlement should reach the targeted population. Even well-functioning programs such as Integrated Child Development Services program (ICDS) do not fully address the problem of food access of the vulnerable population. Ownership rights on land and reduction in income inequality will also serve in improving access to food. Minimum wages to guarantee the right to food as well as access to credit and marketing networks are important low income groups.

South Asia is home to successful examples of targeted food and nutrition intervention programs. For example, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) has been the largest child nutrition intervention program in the world. In India’s 10th five-year plan, it is envisaged that the program will be implemented throughout the country, providing universal coverage for the program. Yet, ICDS continues to face major implementation challenges and does not fully translate the investments made into adequate nutrition. The Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition program, a variant of ICDS program which is currently incorporated as part of ICDS has shown that when effective monitoring and evaluation is conducted and appropriate follow up activities are undertaken, child nutrition could in fact be improved through integrated nutrition programs (Dev, 2005). The Food for Education program in Bangladesh provides adequate evidence that not only can food be transferred to poor households through targeted interventions but it can also be an effective tool to bring children to school, particularly the girls (Ahmed and del Ninno, 2005). The food-based nutrition intervention program Triposha in Sri Lanka has also shown a positive impact on reducing child malnutrition.

The policy priorities for improving food security and nutrition in South Asia include greater public investment in agriculture as well as in the social sectors. For example, an additional US$ 50 billion investment in South Asia in the social sector will reduce child malnutrition by 13 million (Smith, et. al, 2000). Improving access to productive resources and employment for vulnerable sections of society is also important. Greater linkage between agriculture research and food policy should be pursued in order to translate agriculture technology into adequate food security. Recent trends indicate that community-based targeting programs works better in improving access to food. However, policymaking should involve poor farmers and vulnerable sections of society to directly benefit in terms of improved access to food. Greater involvement of the private sector is also required in establishing and maintaining food distribution centers in rural areas.

Another area that needs policy attention is to improve interregional trade liberalisation in South Asia. Harmonisation of customs and tariffs among the countries in the region to facilitate better food trade is needed. A multi-disciplinary approach is needed for greater involvement of nutritionists in policymaking. The early warning systems to forewarn of impending food shortages due to natural disasters should be developed in all of the countries in the region as well as at the regional level to increase cooperation to share such information among the countries. Effective communication that is user specific and user sensitive to various levels of decision making is also important from scientists to policymakers for solving the food security problem in the region.

Conclusion
During the last 30 years a lot has been accomplished in terms of increasing food production through technology and policy interventions in South Asia. However, an organised effort is still needed from all sectors of the economy to reduce the high levels of food insecurity and child malnutrition. Various technological, institutional and policy options for increasing food security in the region require a greater involvement of nutritionists and food scientists in food and nutrition policymaking. In that process the importance of conducting quality research through improved capacity for food and nutrition intervention and better communication of research results to policymakers cannot be underestimated.

(Suresh Babu is Senior Research Fellow and Program Leader at the International Food Policy Research Institute and may be contacted at: s.babu@cgiar.org)

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