Previous Year Question
Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R).
Assertion (A): Food security is necessary even in surplus food production years.
Reason (R): Starvation can still occur due to unequal distribution and lack of accessibility.
Select the correct answer from the code given below:
Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
(A) is false, but (R) is true
(A) is true, but (R) is false
Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
Food security does not mean merely having sufficient production or availability of food in a country. People must also have physical and economic access to that food.
Therefore, even in a year of surplus food production, poor households, unemployed persons or people living in remote areas may be unable to obtain sufficient food. This may result from low income, high prices, unequal distribution or lack of physical access to food.
In this context, Amartya Sen's Entitlement Approach is important. It explains that starvation does not arise only because the aggregate food supply is inadequate; it can also occur when people lose the economic or social means through which they can command available food.
Thus, unequal distribution and inadequate access explain why food security remains necessary even in years of surplus production.