Food: A weapon or a peace catalyst?

During Richard Nixon’s presidency in the US, his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger went on record to say, “Those who control food in Asia will control the destiny of Asians.” In fact, this was the premise on which dubious, highly chemical-centric farming was thrust on the Indian subcontinent, with disastrous consequences on the soil resources. This was euphemistically called the “green revolution”, a term coined by William Gaud, Director of the United States Aid for International Development. But that is not the subject of this article.

Global hunger is on the rise, notwithstanding the ‘green revolution’. Food is, indeed, being used as a “weapon” to control millions of the deprived around the world -- on the African, and to some extent Asian and Latin American continents. Inequality and inadequacy of food have taken the biggest toll. The climate crisis, the Covid pandemic and regional conflicts have driven millions to hunger and death. In 2019, 650 million people around the world suffered from chronic hunger – 43 million more than in 2014, or more than 8 million new hungry mouths a year in that period.

Research conducted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) points to the World Food Programme (WFP) contributing to creating conditions for peace in four areas -- bolstering social cohesion, strengthening the link between citizens and the State, and resolving grievances within and between communities. It is important and interesting to note, in this context, that the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2020 was won by the World Food Programme (WFP), citing its contributions and the role and importance of food in maintaining global peace.

What can India do in this context?

India has made major progress in addressing hunger and malnutrition within the country, but a lot more needs to be done. One of India’s greatest contributions to equity in food is its National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), which anchors the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), the mid-day meals, especially for school-going children, and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Today, India’s food safety nets collectively reach over a billion people.

Food safety net and inclusion are linked with governments’ public procurement and buffer stocks policy. This was visible during the global food crisis between 2008-12 and more recently during the Covid pandemic, where vulnerable and marginalised families in India continued to be buffered by TPDS, which became a lifeline with robust food stock.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), introduced in 2020 to provide relief to 800 million Indian beneficiaries covered under the NFSA from Covid-induced economic hardships, has been extended by another six months up to September 2022. The total outlay so far adds up to Rs 2.6 lakh crore.

It is in this context that India’s contribution to the war-ravaged Afghanistan comes into the limelight. The 50,000 metric tons of food assistance in the form of wheat committed by India is being sent in installments to Jalalabad in Afghanistan, through Pakistan. The first consignment, part of India’s “in-kind contribution” to the United Nations World Food Programme, was flagged off on February 22 in a ceremony at Amritsar’s Attari border crossing, by India’s Foreign Sectary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay.

We Indians must continue on this path as the trailblazer in access and inclusion through public policies and systems. If the national leadership firmly decides on this principle, India can indeed translate the spirit of our Vedic tenet Vasudaiva Kutumbakam.

In his UN General Assembly address in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “India’s traditional outlook sees the world as one family and that is linked to the Vedic tradition of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — underlining the relevance not just for global peace, cooperation, environment protection, but also for humanitarian response, including to rising global hunger, and leaving no one behind.” This would, indeed, take the world to the idea of “zero-hunger”, especially inasmuch as the world’s poor and faceless are concerned.

(The writer is a former professor at the National Science Foundation, The Royal Society, Belgium)