Food Security and Nutrition: Vision 2020

The concept of food security has undergone considerable changes in recent years. Food availability and stability were considered good measures of food security till the seventies and the achievement of self-sufficiency was accorded high priority in the food policies of developing countries. Though India was successful in achieving self-sufficiency by increasing its food production and also improved its capacity to cope with year-to-year fluctuations in food production, it could not solve the problem of chronic household food insecurity. This necessitated a change in approach and as a result, food energy intake at household level is now given prominence in assessing food security. It has become common practice to estimate the number of food insecure households by comparing their calorie intake with required norms. However, the widely accepted norms of the level of calorie intake required for overcoming under-nutrition have been questioned. Nutritionists argue that the energy intake is a poor measure of nutritional status, which depends not only on the nutrient intake but also on non-nutrient food attributes, privately and publicly provided inputs and health status (Martorell and Ho, 1984). The non-food factors which influence biological absorption are also considered as important for food security as food factors.