04/06/2022 - Agriculture

KEY POINTS

·        The soaring temperatures adversely affect health, cause a dip in agricultural production, and also dry up rivers. Indeed, the repercussions of climate change are being felt more strongly than ever, especially in climate-vulnerable zones.

·        The Centre’s 2015 AMRUT programme, for instance, included green spaces and parks as a thrust area. What, however, is often left out in urban planning is agriculture, still seen as a predominantly rural practice and source of livelihood.

·        Urban areas already house at least 55 per cent of the world’s population and consume 80 per cent of the food produced globally, thus underlining UPA as key to achieving sustainable food systems. With a current urban population of 481 million, which is expected to double by 2050, this holds true for India as well.

·        To further explore the actual practice of UPA vis-à-vis ULP, the project compared three municipal master plans of the Ghaziabad sub-district with actual land-use mapped using satellite imagery.

·        Adequate political will for financial inputs and enforcement of regulations will be essential for often fund-starved urban administrations and for curbing violations of environmental norms.

·        Urgent attention to UPA and its incorporation into ULP with enabling support will also go a long way in achieving urban food security and even a circular bioeconomy.

"Hunger is not caused by scarcity of food,  but by the scarcity of democracy" - Francis Lappe

According to FAO, food security emerges when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.

Govt. of India is trying to attain Food security for all through the PDS platform yet a quarter of the world’s hunger burden is on India due to its large population.

India is rapidly urbanizing and is estimated to host 50% of its population in cities by 2050. But ill-planned cities and over-crowdedness only add to unsustainable growth and unemployment. The issue of climate change is also a warning sign as rivers are drying and causing a dip in agricultural production.

To overcome this massive problem our only solution is to make use of "Green Infrastructure" in urban cities to achieve sustainability along with food security for India.

The role of green infrastructure in combating pollution and climate mitigation and adaptation is well recognized. Urban Agriculture can contribute to food security, livelihood generation, especially for women,  poverty alleviation, and sustainability.

Thus, We should make use of Green Infrastructure and Urban agriculture in urban areas which house at least 55% of the world's population to contribute to the food security of the country and achieve sustainability