Inter-sectoral strategy for food security in India: need or fad? An investigation through participatory methods

This paper examines the debate which surrounds the uni-sectoral versus inter-sectoral, or integrated, approach as a strategy for food security and poverty alleviation.

Looking at the issues surrounding the debate through a participatory approach, the paper begins by outlining the theory behind both approaches, moving on to examine the ways in which the right to food can be related to development. The author then highlights the situation of food insecurity within a West Bengal village specifically, presenting the circumstance in which the villagers find themselves through their own eyes.

Findings include:

• lack of reliable minimal food access weakens health of women, men and children, which in turn weakens their capacity to produce food in their rural subsistence agriculture, and weakens the capacity for meaningful employment for food translatable income
• poor health and malnutrition make it difficult for the poor villagers, many of whom live in remote areas, to access clean water and health care facilities, further weakening their health.
• distance is a problem suffered by the rural poor, particularly in regards to getting education in nutrition, health, and farming techniques
• scant employment during the lean season in the rural areas and other slack times (and general unemployment), in urban areas, has a direct impact on the nutrition and health of households
• lack of a morning meal hinders the learning of children, reinforcing the impact of commonly bad educational quality in the remote rural areas
• a weak food base lessens the capacity of the households to support experimental labour migration by members of the poor household trying to find employment as a means of diversifying the household’s income base

It is argued that such conditions make a strong case for an integrated approach. However, the author asserts that if one was to advocate a uni-sectoral approach, the residual gaps (inevitably large in poorer communities) could make serious inroads into efforts at eradicating poverty. It is concluded that the case for a cross-sectoral strategy for poverty eradication is very strong.