Question

How is food security ensured in a country?

Answer 1

Hint:
The United Nations Committee on world food security defines food security in terms of social, physical, and economic access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food that meets one’s food preferences and one’s dietary requirements to ensure a healthy and active lifestyle.

Complete Answer:
Food security is a situation where all individuals have access to safe, sufficient, and healthy food. The four major parameters on which food security is judged are availability, access, utilization, and stability. These four parameters are always kept in mind while dealing with the food security in a country.
The food security in a country is ensured by following three parameters. Firstly, by ensuring there is enough food for everyone. Secondly, all people have the capacity and resources to have access to adequate food. Lastly, there should not exist any barrier to access to food.
India ensures food security by creating a buffer stock and public distribution system.
The buffer stock is maintained by the Food Corporation of India under the government of India. It produces grains like wheat and rice.
The grains produced by the FCI are distributed to the poorer section of the society through government-regulated distribution centers at a very subsidized value. This system is known as the public distribution system and the ration shops are known as fair price shops.

Note:
Although a very huge section of the society is prone to nutrition insecurity in India, the worst affected section comprises landless households in rural areas, the poorly paid workers and daily wagers, or the ones who engage in seasonal occupations.