Climate change and Food Security

Food has always been proved to be a turning point in survival of any civilization. Food security is one of the major concerns which can be felt globally. The issues relating to food security are rising day by day due to increase in population, reduction in agricultural land and climate change. Major concern is Global warming and climate change, which are having immediate effects of agriculture and lifestyle.

We live in a world where an estimated 805 million people sleeps hungry each night. We are producing more than enough food to feed global population, but the problem is more than one third of food produced on our planet does not find a table. This is because either food gets spoiled in transit or is wasted by consumers in wealthier countries who tend to buy more than actually needed. In short we can say that nearly 1.3 billion tons of food gets wasted worth nearly $1 Trillion at retail price. The energy used in production of food till reaching the consumer generates more than 3.3 Billion metric ton of carbon dioxide. If we consider food waste to be a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after USA and China.

A recent study says that global worming could reduce world’s food production by 18% by 2050, but the investments in infrastructure and irrigation, and moving food outputs to different regions might reduce the loss. Global system of irrigation must be expanded by more than 25% to cover up changing rainfall patterns. If climate change is managed properly, then food production can be increased by 3% till 2050 as the higher concentration of carbon dioxide has fertilizing effects on plants.

It is to be noted that meat production is a major contributor to climate change. It is estimated that livestock production accounts for 70% of land use and occupies 30% of world’s land surface. FAO has estimated that livestock production is contributing around 18% of greenhouse gases.  If we talk about chemical farming, it uses considerably more energy per unit of production as compared to organic farming. The use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in farming produces nitrogen oxide which is approximately 300 times more powerful then carbon dioxide in absorbing atmospheric heat.

Recently a study done by Australian scientists concludes that swamps and wetlands could be 50 times more effective then rain forests in storing carbon. Researchers found that swamps holds up to one third of carbon found in terrestrial soils, and occupies only 4% of planets land surface. Since 1990, around 50% of wetlands have been destroyed for urban development and farming, which is also an alarming condition.

Genetic resources have to play a critical role in feeding the world. Since climate change is advancing faster than expected, it is required to preserve and utilize the biological diversity that underpins the world’s food production. Climate change and food production are interlinked and taking care about climate, food production practices and food management can only help in future food security, otherwise our coming generations would face difficulties in survival.

IPR – A Tug of War

We live in a country with current estimated population of about 1.27 Billion and second most populous country after China. The statistics shows that India has approximately 17.31% of total world’s population. With the growth rate of about 1.58%, our country India is expected to have more than 1.53 Billion of population by 2030 and will become world’s most populous country. Currently India has death rate of 6.4 deaths/1000 people and infant mortality rate of 30.15 deaths/1000 live births. Some of the reasons of India’s growing population are poverty, illiteracy, high fertility rate, decline in death rates and immigrations from neighboring countries.

India being a vastly populous country, approximately 29.5% of its population lives below poverty line (according to Rangarajan Committee). Latest Millennium development report by UN says that approximately one third of world’s 1.2 Billion poorest people lives in India. No doubt India one of the fastest growing country but it is wealth distribution gap is widening day by day and because of which a niche rich class is enjoying every privilege but the vast poor class is not able to access their daily needs and forget about costly education and medical expenses.    

Recently we have seen 66^th Indian Republic Day parade with Barak Obama as a chief guest. It is for the first time that US state head has visited India twice and given this honor by India. This visit by Obama can be seen in terms of strengthening strategic partnership among first democracy (USA) and the largest democracy (India). Obama’s comments on IPR policies in medical sector during India-US CEO forum was harshly criticized by international health activists. There are concerns that US is pressuring India to take care about drug manufacturing MNC’s seeking patent protection in India.

In April 2014, USTR Special 301 report on intellectual property protection has retained India on priority watch list in terms of infringement of US patent laws. The report further says that about 10-40 percent of drugs sold in Indian markets can impose a serious threat to health and safety of patients. The Indian pharmaceutical industry reacted angrily to this allegation. MSF an international medical humanitarian organization also reacted and criticized this report for speaking against Indian allegation.             

The intense attack on Indian IPR started in 2012 when patent controller in India allowed the production of an expensive cancer drug which reduced its price by 97 percent. The American pharmaceutical industry is not happy because India does not allow patens on same drug with minor modifications which curbs ever greening of monopoly.  It is to be noted that Indian IPR policies are not favored by USA and EU but this has been a live saver for Indians and other developing countries which are in need of urgent modern medical treatment. Even health groups in US like OXFAM America, GAP, TAG, AVAC and others have requested Mr. Obama to support India in providing high quality and low cost generic medicines which are essentials of health care around the world.

India is a leading manufacturer and exporter of low cost generic drugs. In 2013-14, Indian pharmaceutical industry registered exports worth $14.84 Billion. USA itself is the major importer of these medicines.   Even if we talk about historical President George W. Bush’s PEPFAR AIDS relief program, about 98 percent of drugs was purchased were generic from India. Before Indian companies manufactured generic versions at $1 per day, AIDS medication was costing around $10000 per person per year.

Low cost generic medicines manufactured by India are taking care of public health in developing countries, especially in third world countries. This also contributes to Indian economy and is expected to grow at CAGR of 14 percent and expected to reach a turnover of $47.06 Billion by 2018. Now it will be interesting to look at Indian government concerns regarding low cost generic medical treatments for all or the shift of concern towards profit oriented MNC’s. We can only expect Indian government to take care of its huge population and other countries who cannot afford expensive medical care and to take humanitarian approach instead of taking capitalistic approach. This humanitarian approach will not only save billions of lives but also will help in contributing Indian economy.