: Opinion: Inflation-targeting may add to hunger #IndiaNEWS #News By Dipa Sinha While the period before the pandemic saw exceptionally low food inflation in India, the current inflation, particularly

Opinion: Inflation-targeting may add to hunger #IndiaNEWS #News
By Dipa Sinha
While the period before the pandemic saw exceptionally low food inflation in India, the current inflation, particularly in food items, is putting added pressure on people’s ability to access adequate and nutritious food. In a country where the poor spend over 40% of their incomes on food, sustained food inflation poses a danger to household food security, leading to a rise in poverty and hunger.
Field surveys as well as FAO statistics show that as a result of the impact of the pandemic on livelihood and employment, and a general slowdown in the economy, heightened food insecurity persisted even months after the lockdowns ended. In recent months, this has been exacerbated by food and fuel price inflation.
Out of Reach
The monthly ‘food index’ of the wholesale price index (WPI) has averaged around 10% since the beginning of 2022, reaching a peak of 12. 4% in June 2022. Among cereals, while wheat prices started going up from September 2021 onwards, the Ukraine invasion and heat waves in India added to the global price rises as well as vulnerability in wheat availability. Pulses, the main source of proteins in Indian diets (due to the unaffordability of animal products), on the other hand, saw very high levels of inflation in 2021. They are now witnessing lower levels, which could also be because of the high base.
The prices of edible oils, milk and milk products and vegetables too have been rising continuously. Similar trends are seen in the consumer price index (CPI) as well, with the inflation in cereals being 7%, oils and fats 7. 52%, vegetables 10. 9% and food and beverages overall at 6. 71% in July 2022.

Wages Decline
The increase in food inflation is further concerning as wages have not kept pace with prices. It is estimated that the average agricultural wages (real) declined 2. 67% and average non-agricultural wages (real) in rural areas declined 4. 51% in the two-year period between June 2020 and June 2022. (Labour Bureau)
With food becoming less affordable, it is seen that people switch to inferior quality foods and also cut down on more nutritious items such as fruits and meat. These findings in the literature are also vindicated by field experience in recent times where people talk about reducing their consumption of milk, eggs, pulses, vegetables and so on as a result of the increase in prices. This was also reported in the Hunger Watch survey conducted by the Right to Food campaign in January 2022.
These are worrying trends considering that diets in India have been shown to be lacking in diversity and essential nutrients. The FAO’s State of Food Insecurity report in 2022 estimated that about 70% of the people in India could not afford a healthy diet.

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