Rights, acts and action on food security and sustainable agriculture

Agriculture is used here as an inclusive concept, which would also cover development of wastelands, forests, organic farming with organic seed and compost preparation. The critical relevance of the rural sector for food security is, thus, clear. Over the past decade, a series of events have brought the question of food security into sharp focus. Vast famine -areas juxtaposed against bursting granaries, the World Trade Organization's attack on agriculture and farmers, the media ‘s spotlight on starvation deaths in Orissa and finally the supreme Court's reaction to the plight of hungry-all make a case for the recognition of the Right to Food. The formulation of a strategy for food security would then have to be not only in terms of the provision of cereals and ensuring adequate calorie intake but must be backed up by state-and region-specific socio-cultural measures to ensure the desired nutritional outcomes. This is because cereals still comprise the cheapest source of energy and micro-nutrients for the poor. The Government of Bangladesh recognizes the importance of increasing the productivity of crop, fishing and livestock and poultry-rearing activities in order to increase incomes which would provide households with additional resources to increase incomes which would provide households with additional resources to protect food security. It is worth mentioning that during the early 1980s, a balance between demand and supply of food grains was in sight. Thus, the objective of agricultural development was modified from "maximization of food grains" to "evolving a production pattern consistent with the emerging demand pattern". Three support approaches were extended to non-food grain crops; that are technology, inputs and marketing. As a result, the production of non-cereals food items such as edible oilseeds, fruits vegetables, spices and livestock products increased. As resources are threatened in two ways: by depletion and by contamination. Both problems have an impact far beyond agriculture, in that the resulting loss of food production and environmental damage threaten and diminish quality of life.