In a situation where the world is facing twin problems of food and energy security, the homogenous group of countries in South Asia is gearing up to meet the challenge in its humble way.
Rise in prices of essential commodities today is a global phenomena, caused largely due to competition between food and fuel. Price inflation is coming in the way of developing countries achieving a desired rate of economic growth necessary for augmenting employment opportunities and creation of wealth.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) consisting of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in its two-day 15th summit, which concluded in Colombo on Sunday, deliberated on these vital issues apart from the problem of tackling terrorism in the region.
The $300 million Saarc Development Fund and Saarc Food Bank are the mechanisms available for dealing with the issues. The most important point stressed by the Saarc leaders on the opening day of the summit was on exploitation of resources in the region. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, ?The countries in South Asia need to work towards a collective response that leads to a quantum leap in agricultural productivity, foodgrain output and farm incomes so that the crises of food vanishes from our region.?
On energy security Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said harnessing the region?s indigenous energy potential, particularly solar, wind, biomass and hydro energy was needed. He said, ?We should also envisage a network of intra-regional and trans-regional oil and gas pipelines.?
The most important approach to food security in the region cannot be ensured through competition, but through cooperation. What is more needed is to understand the food and dietary habits of people in each of the geo-climatic zones in the countries of South Asia. The Saarc region is vast with pockets of diverse geo-climatic regions. Yet similarities exist amongst the countries in the region with many matching geo-climatic conditions like wetlands, arid zones, semi-arid zones, hot and cold deserts, coastal zones, hilly areas, forests with distinct cropping patterns and food habits.
It will not be wise to substitute food habits in some areas through mono staples like wheat and rice or through fast foods. People in many dryland areas consume various millets as staples which are nutritious and do not require nutrition supplements like pulses and lentils which are costly for the poor. The Green Revolution did increase the production of wheat and rice in the region, but marginalised the cultivation of many coarse cereals in the dryland areas. The cultivation of water intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane in relatively dry areas have caused ecological and water scarcity problems.
To tackle the situation the Planning Commission in India has called for state-specific, region-specific cropping pattern and measures for addressing the food security problem. The 11th Plan has also proposed for diversification into horticulture, livestock, poultry, fisheries in areas where it is feasible and warranted. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been asked to identify crops and livelihood options specific to each region for necessary technological intervention for improvement. This agenda has been incorporated in the recently launched India?s National Food Security Mission.
A separate and effective food security and livelihood options need to be proposed for the forest dwellers, in particular.
The ICAR in its recent document–State-specific Technological Intervention for Higher Agricultural Growth–has proposed improved seeds, resource conservation technologies, vermin-composting, crop diversification, mushroom cultivation, honeybee farming, livestock and poultry, fishery, post-harvest management and value-addition suited to each of the regions.
Incidentally many of the technologies and interventions proposed some specific regions in India can be applied to other countries in South Asia like situations in Andaman & Nicobar Islands can match with that in the Maldives and Sri Lanka to an extent. The conditions in Sikkim and northeastern India are similar to that in Bhutan and Nepal. Bangladesh bears a lot of similarity with West Bengal in India and also the conditions in Pakistan are similar to that in northwestern India. It is thus a situation of sharing each others experiences.
Regarding, energy security the Pakistan prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani has rightly stressed the need for harnessing the region’s potential for renewable power. The South Asia region has a vast potential for harnessing power from solar, wind, biomass and wastes, small hydro-system sources. Besides there are on-going research programme for use hydrogen, tidal wave and geo-thermal sources for generating energy for commercial use.
The most effective way for ensuring energy security in a country can be done through decentralized system of generation and distribution. Power generation from new and renewable sources and its distribution can be most effective in a decentralized system. Dependence on a sole source of energy would not be wise. The South Asian region needs to go for not only a decentralized system of power generation and distribution but for a proper mix of energy sources. This approach would help the region in ensuring energy security without committing the blunder committed by the countries in Europe and North America in going for largescale bio-fuel programme which has caused competition between food and fuel and has invited the current food crisis.