India – To Sell Or Not To Sell, Is That The Question?

The Guardian released an article today based on some finding by the Hindustan Times. Essentially the Guardian article argues that public distribution systems in India are “undermined by bureaucracy and corruption,” resulting in full warehouses and empty stomachs of ordinary citizens.

 

I decided to pursue this issue further. Using the aforementioned newspaper I visited the Hindustan Times website and learned more about their section entitled “tracking hunger”.

State	% of underweight children	% of undernutritioned children	% of hunger deaths under the age of 5
Rajasthan	40.4%	14.0%	8.5%
Gujarat	44.7%	22.3%	6.1%
Madhya Pradesh	59.8%	23.4%	9.4%
Maharashtra	36.7%	27.0%	4.7%
Karnataka	37.6%	28.1%	5.5%
Kerala	22.7%	28.6%	1.6%
West Bengal	38.5%	18.5%	5.9%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/TrackingHunger-statistics/trackinghunger/fullcoverage-FCLid.aspx

Using the statistics above one can evidently conclude that managing the nutrition of India’s future, its children, has to be a priority. To play devil’s advocate one can also argue over the credibility of such statistics. Despite being entitled “Alarming child malnutrition levels in major states” no date was provided next to the table, and if it were not for the 2010 copyright date at the bottom of the website, the credibility of these statistics could be questioned.

 

How were these statistics compiled?

What were the qualifications of a “major” state?

 

Those are but a few questions the statistics above can raise, but according to the Hindustan Times on the front page of their tracking hunger section,

 

Emerging India either does not know or ignores the statistics: Half its children are malnourished, a record worse than the world’s symbol for deprivation, sub-Saharan Africa. India is ranked 66th out of 88 countries in the Global Hunger Index drawn up by the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Outsiders who have never been to India, and I fall within that category, can question statistics like the one above for a long period of time, yet while questions are being asked it is evident that organization and distribution needs to be improved. Corruption has to be addressed if not for the sole reason that if one guard prematurely closes a warehouse full of food many more could perish as a result of that decision. Reasons for why corruption exists vary, but what remains constant is the belief that while the individual benefits, the collective suffer as whole. There is no such thing as working time machine, well at least not that I know of, but if there were I would like to visit India in the eighties and even the nineties to witness how the generation of today was shaped by the generations before. Ultimately, just as a strong foundation is needed to build a sturdy home so too is a strong commitment needed to improve public distribution systems in India. It is only by working with the community that such a hope can flourish into a reality.   

 

Under Pressure: Are Farmers Being Buried By Extra Costs Associated With Farming?

The above picture of a farmer in Allahabad (India) may not reflect the farming practices of our ‘modern’ farmers, yet the basic idea remains constant. Farming is hard work. Yet farming was, is, and should always be, a way of life. Except on the continent of Antarctica, farming has been a uniquely human chore since our earliest beginnings. Regardless of whether you believe in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or even Evolution, farming is deeply integrated into our past ancestry.

This article was inspired from an article entitled “Why your Ontario peach will be bigger this morning” from the Toronto Star. Found in the Business section, reporter Dana Flavelle painted a likely scenario, all too realistic, where local farmers are “under pressure to do more with less”. Going back to this article’s picture, you might be thinking how it’s possible for any farmer to complain when they live in the developing country like Canada, with all that land, and to some degree you would be entitled to express that statement openly, but when you turn away from a lifestyle of pioneers and enter the realm of food imports, nationalism of all things becomes evoked.

Here is quote from Flavelle’s article:

“It’s been a long slow descent for Canada’s farmers, starting with the free trade agreement, the rise of the Canadian dollar and the emergence of China as a net food supplier to the globe.”

Canadian dollar? China? That explains why this article was in the Business section! Farming is a business. Unlike notable software companies which produce computer programs, and factories which produce toilet seat covers, farming produces something the consumer would be hard-pressed to ignore, food. Don’t get me wrong, without computer programs WordPress would not be possible, and without toilet seat covers sanitation would plummet, although the details of that assessment will not be provided as I’ll let you make that connection should you desire to do so. Ultimately, regardless of whether you are in India or Ontario, Ohio or Peru, financial aid, currency itself, goes a long way when it comes down to guaranteeing a future for your farm today.

In a growing age of scientists, mathematicians, writers, even technicians, the simple farmer is anything but simple. In all likelihood their farm was passed down from generation to generation, patience, a lesson worth learning. As I finished reading to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, which touches on the importance of the farm, specifically the rice farms in China, I learned a lesson about farming that most people do not know. Farming is not useless. You simply cannot just pop down to a science lab to pick up your weekly grocery list, and it should never come to that. In the balance between convenience and eating healthy small town local farmers are the unsung heroes, of modern agriculture. Agriculture. That includes the word, ‘culture’ within. Farming is a lifestyle, a culture, many of us are privileged or unprivileged (I cannot decide which) to experience.  You can choose to call a farmer dirty and old because of their culture, but should you ever a visit a farmers’ market and witness the jewels of their hard work, you would instantly regret dismissing a community of people as antiquated.

I may not be a farmer, I may not have offspring who choose to be farmers, but in all likelihood my ancestors were farmers. If you happen to stumble across this entry, know a farmer, respect farmers, or just have an opinion, feel free to leave a comment below.

Thanks.

P.S. Upon review I noticed I failed to answer the initial question in the title. Here are my opinions. Farming is a business that should be treated like any other. Investments need to be evaluated on return, and as such, investors need to do their research. Yet I believe small town farmers are being bridled with extra costs that could be decreased, even if by a slight margin. Every little bit helps. With that said however, I know of  rarely any other business except the Pharmaceutical/Medicinal trade with as strong a tie to human health and well being, as farmers have. We literally consume their product.