Table Of ContentFood Governance in India
This book offers insights into the issues around food security, public health,
equity and global governance. With a focus on India, it highlights the com-
plex networks of sociopolitical, economic and agricultural challenges to
ensure self-sufficiency in food production.
Based on field research conducted across India and an in-depth study on
government agencies and multilateral fora, this book connects and juxta-
poses global, national and local narratives on food security and policy. It
analyses issues ranging from climate change to gaps in the nation-wide public
food distribution systems. Through interdisciplinary narratives on food inse-
curity and poverty, the book exposes the underlying problems within policy
frameworks and offers solutions for greater accessibility and distribution of
food supplies while combating climate variability and agrarian distress.
The volume explores global food governance norms and India’s role in
further shaping them. It will be of interest to students and researchers of
public policy and governance, development studies, sociology, agriculture
studies, public health and nutrition and economics.
Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya has served as a professor of political science at
Banaras Hindu University since 1997. Her research interests are women and
peace, human security, digital technologies and governance. She has edited
several books, including Nepal in Transition to Democracy (2013), is the co-
editor of the biannual journal, Peace Works and is the co-author of Peace and
Conflict Resolution in the Twenty-first Century (forthcoming).
Åshild Kolås is a social anthropologist and research professor at the Peace
Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO). Her core areas of expertise are governance,
identity politics and peacebuilding. She is the editor of several anthologies,
including Women, Peace and Security in Myanmar: Between Feminism and
Ethnopolitics (2019) and Sovereignty Revisited: The Basque Case (2017, co-
edited with Pedro Ibarra Güell).
Ruchita Beri is a senior research associate and centre coordinator for the
Africa, Latin America, Caribbean and United Nations Centre at the Manohar
Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi.
She has edited several books including India and Africa: Common Security
Challenges for the Next Decade (2016).
Food Governance in India
Rights, Security and Challenges in the
Global Sphere
Edited by Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya,
Åshild Kolås and Ruchita Beri
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses; individual
chapters, the contributors
The right of Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya, Åshild Kolås and Ruchita Beri to be identified as the authors
of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-34713-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-22459-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-27265-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003272656
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
List of tables vii
List of contributors viii
Foreword xiii
Acknowledgements xix
Introduction: Food for a growing India xx
ÅSHILD KOLÅS, ANJOO SHARAN UPADHYAYA AND RUCHITA BERI
1 India’s National Food Security Act (NFSA): Early experiences 1
RAGHAV PURI
2 The eco-system of India’s food security regime 19
SANJEEV CHOPRA
3 Addressing nutritional challenges for India 37
T.P. RAJENDRAN
4 Challenges of the Targeted Public Distribution System in
Eastern Uttar Pradesh 54
ANJOO SHARAN UPADHYAYA
5 Entitlements for the deprived: An empirical study of
household food security in Karnataka and Bihar 67
ARNE DULSRUD AND UNNI KJÆRNES
6 Food entitlements: Political will versus preparedness of the
state in Odisha 86
NITA MISHRA AND EDWARD LAHIFF
7 Global governance and India’s food governance and security 102
SHALINI KALA
vi Contents
8 The role of Israel in India’s food security 118
MANJARI SINGH AND P.R. KUMARASWAMY
9 The G20 and India’s food security concerns 133
ARPITA ANANT
10 Climate change and food security in India: Domestic and
global solutions 155
MALANCHA CHAKRABARTY
Index 173
Tables
1.1 Important NFSA-related dates 7
1.2 Timeline of NFSA Implementation 7
1.3 Allocations for NFSA-related programmes, 2011–2012 to
2017–2018 (in INR millions) 9
2.1 Outlay/production of cereals, pulses and oilseeds (2007–2017) 22
2.2 Salient features of the NFSA 23
2.3 Evolution of the NFSA 25
2.4 Production of cereals, pulses and oilseeds (2010–2017) 28
2.5 Procurement status (2012–2013 to 2017–2018) 29
2.6 Performance of MGNREGA (2008–2018) 31
5.1 The number of times staple food (rice, wheat, other) and
dhal were served yesterday 73
5.2 How main food items consumed in the household yesterday
were procured (from own production, a PDS shop, other
shop or being a gift or sharing with neighbours/relatives) 75
5.3 Access to land among rural households (in per cent)
Multiple answers 77
5.4 Employment and access to the labour market 77
5.5 Holders of Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya (AAY)
ration cards (in per cent) 79
7.1 Government of India food security initiatives 104
7.2 Selected international institutions relevant to food security 107
8.1 List of CoEs in India 125
10.1 Cereal yields (kg per ha, 2016) 157
10.2 Growth rate of yield per hectare grain (per cent) 157
10.3 Change in nutrient content at elevated CO compared with
2
ambient CO 161
2
Contributors
Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya has served as a professor of political science at
Banaras Hindu University since 1997. She was the Indian Council of
Cultural Relations (ICCR) Chair Professor at Dublin City University
(2016–2017), ICCR Chair Professor at Tribhuvan University (2011–
2013), guest professor at Karlstad University (2015–2016) and Fulbright
visiting lecturer at Wellesley College (2010). She has been visiting profes-
sor at various academic institutions of the world including the London
School of Economics, Concordia University, Wellesley College, Univer-
sity of Magdeburg, PRIO, Stanford University and Woodrow Wilson
International Centre for Scholars, Washington DC. Her research interests
are gender and human security, digital technologies and governance, and
conflict transformation. She has published widely and has edited sev-
eral books, including Nepal in Transition to Democracy (2013), is the
co-editor of the biannual journal, Peace Works and is the co-author of
Peace and Conflict Resolution in the Twenty-first Century, from Sage
(forthcoming).
Arne Dulsrud is a senior researcher and research director at Consumption
Research Norway, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. He has his
PhD in sociology from the University of Oslo. His research interest and
expertise are on economic sociology, food consumption, food security
and consumer policy, the digital economy and consumer empowerment.
He is currently the principal investigator and coordinator of two large
research projects on food security: a project that explores the intercon-
nection between food security and conflict in the context of Cauca,
Colombia, and the “Platforms” project, which investigates the role of
digital platforms on sustainable consumption (funded by the EU’s Hori-
zon 2020 programme).
Arpita Anant is associate fellow at Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence
Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi, India. Her current area of
research is India’s multilateralism at the United Nations, with a focus on
peacekeeping, terrorism and sustainable development. She was awarded
Contributors ix
the ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship and held a Commonwealth Visiting Fel-
lowship (Canada) in 2001–2002. She holds a PhD in international politics
from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi. Her doctoral thesis was on Group Rights in the Indian and
International Discourses. She is associate editor of Africa Trends: A
Quarterly News Magazine.
Åshild Kolås is a social anthropologist and research professor at the Peace
Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). Her core areas of expertise are govern-
ance, identity politics and peacebuilding. She has conducted long-term
fieldwork in multi-ethnic communities in India and China, and has writ-
ten on Tibet, Nepal, Inner Mongolia and Northeast India. She is the
editor of several anthologies, including Women, Peace and Security in
Myanmar: Between Feminism and Ethnopolitics (2019) and Sovereignty
Revisited: The Basque Case (2017, co-edited with Pedro Ibarra Güell),
and the author of Tourism and Tibetan Culture in Transition: A Place
Called Shangrila (2008) and On the Margins of Tibet: Cultural Survival
on the Sino-Tibetan Frontier (2005; 2015, with Monika P. Thowsen).
From 2006 to 2018, she coordinated an institutional cooperation between
PRIO and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New
Delhi. She currently leads the research project “e-Topia: China, India and
Biometric Borders” at PRIO and serves as associate editor of the Journal
of International Development.
Bishow Parajuli is the World Food Programme (WFP) Representative and
Country Director in India. Prior to his current assignment, beginning
in September 2019, he served as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP
Resident Representative in Zimbabwe; WFP Representative and Country
Director in Yemen; Chief of Staff, WFP headquarters (Rome); Director,
Executive Director’s Office, WFP headquarters; Director of Government
Donor Relations, WFP headquarters; UN Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator, Myanmar; and UNDP Resident Representative, Myanmar.
He has also held various positions in the World Food Programme in
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mozambique and Botswana. He holds a master’s
degree in Agricultural Development and Business Administration and an
honours degree in agricultural science. He has 35 years of experience in
development, humanitarian affairs, diplomacy, fund-raising and manage-
ment in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and WFP headquarters in Rome.
Edward Lahiff is a lecturer in international development at University Col-
lege Cork and former director of the Bachelor of Science. Programme in
International Development and Food Policy. He spent ten years in south-
ern Africa working with rural NGOs and as senior lecturer in land and
agrarian studies at the University of the Western Cape. In 2009–2010, he
served as the coordinator of the International Doctoral School in Global
