This couplet by vaidya Kaviraj Shree Atridev Gupt is both a reluctant admission of the current pre-eminence enjoyed by western medicine for all its ‘devilish’ association and an assertion that the source of all its inspiration laid in the healing tradition of India.

This chapter seeks to show how both Indian allopathic practitioners and indigenous medicine practitioners had to struggle against the professional ‘borders and boundaries’ demarcated for their social standing by the colonial government. It reflects what were the emerging public platforms in Banaras which made space for the Allopathic and Ayurvedic medical practitioners; in associating Ayurveda with their cause, what the tensions generated with other systems of medicine were. It further shows how the ‘professionalization’ of medicine was a common endeavor both for the British and the Indian doctors trained in western medicine and a ground for conflict. At another level Indian Allopathic physicians were also engaged in a tussle with indigenous medical practitioners in their efforts to extend their clientele. It then explores how indigenous practitioners sought to refurbish their status and credentials by laying out their own institutional and other criteria for a ‘professional’ standing.

Introduction

Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia. It is the fifty-third most populated nation in the world and home to around 19 million people with an annual population growth rate of 0.79 per cent. The major economic sectors of the country are tourism, tea export, apparel, textile and rice production. In addition to these sectors, overseas remittances contribute significantly to foreign exchange of Sri Lanka.

After opening up its markets in late 1970s, the country has witnessed robust economic growth despite several adverse shocks like tsunami, oil, food price increases, and increased competition for its apparel exports following the end of the multi-fiber arrangement. The growth rate of Sri Lanka averaged around 5 per cent during 1980s and 1990s, and has been above 6.5 per cent since 2004. Despite its highly-educated population, the economic growth of the country has been constrained by three decades of internal conflicts. In recent years, the prevailing conflict and the frequency of droughts, floods and landslides have reduced people's access to food. According to FAO 2009, Sri Lanka is classified as low income and food deficit country.

Sri Lanka has been a net food importer since the time of the British colonial rule prior to 1948 and has consequently been affected by developments in the global food market. The efforts to decrease the dependence on imports and increase production mainly for rice have been only partially successful because of high population growth.

Introduction

Agriculture is the single largest sector in Nepal, accounting for 34 per cent of GDP at present, although its share in total GDP has declined over the years. The growth of the Nepalese economy is determined by the agricultural growth. Almost 80 per cent of the population of Nepal reside in rural areas and pursues agricultural activities (National Planning Commission and MOPE, 2003). Only about 17 per cent of Nepal's total land area is suitable for agriculture; 2.5 million hectares with a cropping intensity varying from one to three crops per year. Customarily, the country is classified into three ecological divisions – mountain, hills and terai. The average growth rate of agriculture GDP during period 2001–2006 was 2.8 per cent, which fluctuates highly from year to year, mainly because of adverse weather conditions.

The cereal crops, mainly paddy, maize, millet, wheat, and barley, cover 80 per cent of the total cultivated area in the country. Paddy is the most important crop contributing to half of total cereal production and 16 per cent of the total cultivated area. Maize is the second most important cereal, contributing 25 per cent of the total cereal production. Wheat being the third most important cereal, contributed 20 per cent of total cereal production in 2006–07. Pulses are an important source of protein in the Nepalese diet of which lentils account for 60 per cent of the pulse production.

Definition of Food Security

Food security is a complex issue and its definition has evolved over a period of time. The question of food security has various dimensions that go beyond production, availability and demand for food. The initial focus on food security as a global concern was on the volume and stability of food supplies. In the 1974 World Food Summit, food security was defined as ‘availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices’. In 1983, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) expanded its concept to include vulnerable people securing access to available supplies, stating that food security means ‘ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food that they need’. Later, the 1996 World Food Summit redefined food security to take demand, vulnerability and nutritional aspects into account. At the summit, the countries agreed that ‘food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle’. In 2002, an FAO Expert Consultation on food security gave a working definition of food security as ‘food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’.

Introduction

Afghanistan is a landlocked and mountainous country situated approximately in the South-Central Asia. According to UN estimate of 2009, country is inhabited with around 28 million population. The National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA) 2007–2008 states that more than half of the population of Afghanistan lives below the poverty line. Also, around 31 per cent of the total population does not meet its daily food requirements and around 4 million people each year are severely affected by natural disasters.

The overall threat to the food security in the country is due to the ongoing political risks, difficult access to market, poor sanitation, low education level, droughts and floods and environmental degradation. In lieu of these problems, this chapter discusses the policy options available to tackle the issue of food security in Afghanistan. The chapter also throws light on the role of trade and food bank as a way to achieve food security in the country.

Socio-Political Situation and Access to Food

Historically speaking, whenever either food prices soar or a devastating decrease in the production of food occurs, there is an uproar about food security. The price hike of 1970s and mid 1990s, great famine of 1984–85, and decrease in production during the first decade of 2000 are substantive examples in support of the argument. Although food security is a global issue, its incident is unequally distributed across the world and regions.

Introduction

Bhutan is a small land-locked country with a population of 553,000 covering an area of 38,394 (Bhutan Statistical Yearbook, 2006) square kilometres. Ever since Bhutan came out of its self-imposed isolation in the 1960s, it has achieved remarkable socio-economic development. The country's real annual economic growth averaged about 7–8 per cent over the last two decades and grew by 8.5 per cent in 2006 (HDR, 2005). Bhutan's economic base remains narrow, and the economy is heavily dependent on the hydropower sector which accounts for some 12 per cent of the country's GDP and 45 per cent of national revenues. Bhutan's per capita Gross Domestic Product has increased from US$ 51 in 1961 (the lowest in the world at that time) to US$ 239 in 1980, and US$ 1,523 in 2007 (one of the highest in South Asia). The economic growth in Bhutan has been driven by the construction of hydropower projects and the official development assistance from donors.

Despite high economic growth, about 32 per cent of the population in Bhutan remains below national poverty line and majority of them live in rural areas according to the Poverty Assessment Report of 2004. The same report shows high level of income inequalities with a gini-coefficient 0.42.

With free and compulsory education system in the country, large number of youths entered the labour market but the hydropower and its related industries, have low employment elasticity.

Introduction

The Republic of Maldives is a coral archipelago consisting of 26 atolls and is endowed with 1190 small tropical islands that cross strategic shipping routes and has marine environment rich in diversity. The coral reefs are the seventh largest in the world with a coverage of 8920 square kilometres, 198 islands of which are inhabited. Maldives is also the smallest country in South Asia in terms of both population and agricultural land area, with total area suitable for cultivation estimated at less than 30 sq. km. Almost 92 per cent of the area is covered by sea. In 1978, Maldives was among the world's poorest twenty countries with a population of 156,000. Today, it is inhabitant with the population of 300,000. It is on its way towards achieving middle-income status with a per capita gross domestic product approaching $ 2800 (World Bank, 2008). Not only this, Maldives has reached an impressive per capita income of US$ 3630 in 2008 from US$ 1830 in 1997 and sustained an annual average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 7.7 per cent in the 14 year period till 2008. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has categorised Maldives as the least developed country.

Maldives Vision 2020 aims at becoming one of the top ranking developing nations by the year 2020, through its rapid social and economic development. It has made a remarkable recovery from the tsunami, which inflicted damages of about $ 375 million, excluding $ 100 million in damages to resorts, the bulk of which were covered by private insurance.

Introduction

The Economic reforms since 1991 have transformed India into one of the fastest growing economies, with an average annual GDP growth rate of about 7 per cent for the past two decades. In terms of output, the agricultural sector accounts for about 15.7 per cent of GDP while the service and industrial sectors contribute 56.5 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. However, India still suffers from high levels of poverty, illiteracy, disease, and malnutrition. About 50 per cent of the world's hungry live in India and around 35 per cent (350 million) are considered food insecure, consuming less than 80 per cent of minimum energy requirements.

After the Green Revolution in mid-1960s, India has made tremendous progress with respect to food security and self sufficiency. It has emerged as one of the leading producers of rice, wheat, pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk and other commodities. In the last couple of decades, certain changes have been observed in the agricultural sector. With huge population pressure, although the foodgrain production has more than quadrupled, the per capita foodgrain availability had remained a cause of concern. The sector has also seen an imbalance at the macro level with declining share of agriculture in GDP but the population dependence on this sector for livelihood still remains as high as 60 per cent. This implies that a declining per capita income of the population of this sector has further implication on the food and nutrition security of the population in the agricultural sector.

Introduction

Bangladesh is the seventh most populated country in the world with the population of 160 million in 2008 (WDI, 2009). In 2005, Bangladesh had the highest poverty rate in South Asia (40 per cent) with rural and urban poverty rate being 43.8 and 28.4 per cent, respectively (Food Security Statistics, 2009). The proportion of undernourishment is also highest in the country, 26 per cent with prevalence of undernourishment in total population, among all South Asian countries (Food Security Statistics, 2009). However, over time, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in economic development and has improved its food security status. Per-capita GDP has increased from US$ 211 in 1973–74 to US$ 554 in 2007–08. Since the early 1990s, the country has been experiencing high rates of economic growth over 5 per cent per annum. Poverty rates have also declined from 75 per cent in 1973–74 to 40 per cent in 2005–06.

Since independence in 1971, the production and consumption of foodgrains has been increasing. Though, there were ups and downs, the production of foodgrains generally experienced an upward trend. In 2007–08, compared to 1970–71, the production of different food items has increased significantly. Production of foodgrains (rice and wheat) has increased by three times (from 9.99 million tons in 1972–73 to 29.78 million tons in 2007–08). During this period, the production of vegetables increased by 6.5 times, milk by five times (from about 0.49 million tons to 2.65 million tons) and meat production increased by four times (from 0.24 million tons to 1.04 million tons).

The position of South Asia in food security is quite unique as the sub-region is a major producer of food grains in the world and at the same time accounts for a large section of global impoverished population. The sub-region is home to 1 billion living on US$ 2/day (out of the total population of 1.5 billion) and has the highest concentration of malnourished people at 331 million. FAO estimates indicate that by the end of 2010, Asia will account for about half of the world's malnourished population, of which two-thirds will be from South Asia, making malnourishment the biggest challenge to food security in the sub-region. All efforts need to be made to provide support at the regional level to bolster national food security efforts. Regional integration and collective action to foster inter-country partnerships are needed to solve regional food shortages.

This book pulls together all the critical issues relating to food security that individual South Asian countries are facing. The distinguishing feature of this book is that it focuses on the need for increased agricultural trade among these countries as a way of achieving food security rather than on initiatives like SAARC Food Bank. The articles in the volume identify the status of food security in each country and showcase and analyze government initiatives to address the problem, and the recommendations on policy measures in the book are derived from these analyses.

Introduction

Pakistan is the sixth most populated country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. Pakistan has been considered as a low-income country by the World Bank. About 55 per cent of the adults in Pakistan are literate and life expectancy is 64 years. According to WDI 2009, its population in 2008 was about 166 million and is growing at 2.2 per cent annually. The low level of spending in the social services and high population growth have led to persistent poverty and unequal income distribution. Pakistan's extreme poverty and underdevelopment are the key concerns for the country especially in rural areas.

In South Asia, Pakistan is the second major food producer, next to India. However, despite this fact, the issue of food security has not been resolved in the country. At the time of partition of Pakistan from India in 1947, the present day Pakistan was self sufficient in the production of food, but after the partition, Pakistan was unable to maintain its self sufficieny. The reasons which explain failure to attain self-sufficiency are – lack of political will, negligence of agriculture, unequal distribution systems, scattered land holding, lack of land reform policy, and low investment in agriculture sector. Due to this, Pakistan is also the second most undernourished and malnourished region of the world.

Pakistan needs to devise policies at national, regional and international levels which can help to understand and resolve the problem of food security. In this context, this chapter discusses various aspects, policies and strategies to attain food security in Pakistan. The chapters also throw light on the state of agriculture, role of trade and food bank, and way forward to achieve food security in the country.