Food For All

MINISTER for Agriculture and Cooperatives Mahesh Acharya the other day observed that as food security constitutes the primary rights of all the people of the world, today’s challenge is to make food available to the growing population by increasing agricultural output. Minister Acharya made the observation while inaugurating the regional consultation meet to prepare for the world food security in conjunction with the 26th FAO Asia and Pacific regional conference. It hardly needs any reiteration that food constitutes one of the basic needs of the world’s people. For, without food, it is impossible to even imagine the very survival of the world’s people, leave alone for them to take human civilisation to greater heights. It could be for this very reason and intrinsic understanding that since time immemorial, the human civilisations of the past had always endeavoured to ensure adequate food supplies to their peoples. Towards this end, these civilisations not only brought all available fertile lands within their jurisdictions under cultivation, but also constructed huge irrigation systems to nourish the crops with the life-sustaining waters. History is witness to the fact that these civilisations, through their satraps or tax officials, made it their responsibility to levy tax in the form of foodgrains which they kept in securely protected state-owned granaries. Also, that the doors of these same granaries were opened and the foodgrains therein distributed to the people only during catastrophic times, be they brought about by the vagaries of Mother Nature or the destructive activities of humans. In other words, what history has taught us is that the rise—or fall—of any human civilisation is intricately linked with the availability and access to adequately secured food supplies.

The 21st century human civilisation can not be an exception to this centuries-old lesson. And reality. In fact, our civilisation is indeed faced with the spectre of a burgeoning population rapidly outstripping available food supplies. The only saving grace in this otherwise bleak scenario is that our civilisation has mastered the technology to coax out more harvests from the existing arable lands. Nevertheless, this does not mean that all the nations of the world should be complacent. Especially with the rise in global population showing no sign of slackening. Rather, they, in tandem with regional and global organisations, should implement requisite initiatives that would ensure food security to their respective peoples for ever.

Children’s Plight

IN the just concluded three-day UN Special session on children, the UN member states reiterated their commitment to improve the health and education of the children worldwide and protect them from abuse and threat of killer diseases like HIV/AIDS. The delegates also hoped that if the leaders keep the promises they made during the Summit, the children worldwide could have a better future. But in many of the developing countries due to the terrorist activities, children are deprived of their basic rights. Co-chairing an interactive round table of the Special Session of UN General Assembly on Children the other day, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that the children in a insurgency affected country like Nepal, were facing tough times despite the government efforts in safeguarding them. The ground reality in Nepal has been that the Maoist terrorists have been perpetrating inhuman acts by not only forcing others but also innocent school-going children to wield guns. The terrorists have not only forced the children to pick up their guns but also used them as human shields while looting banks and attacking police posts and army barracks. It is reported that there are hundreds of child soldiers in the Maoist terrorist group.

On the one hand the children have become the victims of the mother of all misfortune known as poverty, and on the other they are suffering from the menace of terrorism. The terrorists have also lured the illiterate teenage boys and girls who are frustrated of having nothing to do. The government in this regard needs to be serious about addressing this problem by providing the youngstors with education and employment opportunities. That the visiting Prime Minister is arriving home this week with measures and support to combat terrorism is encouraging and much can be expected for maintaining child rights in the country because the end of terrorism paves way to the protection of human rights and child rights.