Over the last one year global concern is rising significantly over the rapid rise in demand and prices of food products, even as ailments of various kinds also see a rise for which there is inadequate fund cover. United Nations has in recent weeks admitted that approximately 854 million people around the world suffer from hunger and the spread is as wide as India, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Austria, Hungary and Mexico. Food prices in the last one year have risen by over 90 percent and the demand has not been met, and food availability will not be satisfactory even in 2008.

According to indications, global consumption of wheat and rice have risen beyond production levels of the last seven years consecutively, except 2004-05. Although food production is growing, populations are growing faster and depleting annual stocks that were available in the past. Statistics show that global wheat stocks were pitched at 107 million tonnes (mmt) in 2007 although it was 197 mmt in 2001. Rice stocks stood at 71 mmt as compared to 36 mmt. This implies that the future of both wheat and rice is becoming increasingly uncertain. Which in turn means that food prices will keep rising till such time as the demand and supply match.

India this year stands at the tipping point as food production here has reached a plateau. Wheat production in the country was 72.8 million mt in 2002 and six years later now it is expected to stand at 74 million mts. At the same time, population has risen by 88 million, so there would be a definite need for (imports). Examining only the Indian picture it has been felt by US agricultural experts that the existing prices of wheat will continue to rise. Last year in August after India imported 795,000 mts of wheat at a record price of US $ 389.45, wheat prices in Europe rose by 70 per cent, in anticipation of more orders.

To ensure that the Indian marginal or small farmer is saved from the clutches of money lenders and imminent grip of bank loans, the announcement of government waiver on farmers' loans has been largely welcomed, but as agro economist MS Swaminathan has suggested an indebted farmers' support consortium that will get them benefits of all government schemes - at least four of them are live now - so that farmers' indebtedness is taken care of.

The need for saving the small and medium farmer becomes important because the Governments move to import 23 lakh tonnes on an emergency basis at a far higher cost price then originally stated by State Trading Corporation last year is already a political controversy, with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) currently holding an inquiry into the tendering and pricing process. It is understood that the quality of 9.2 lakh tonnes of the 15 lakh tonnes that landed is a matter of debate between Food Corporation of India and State Trading Corporation. The food Ministry has been told that the stocks received were inferior, failed quality tests and would not give a healthy picture among the general public at large. Out of the 15 lakh tonnes imported, around 10 lakh tonnes were distributed nationwide including through the public distribution system. Somewhat in the manner of killing the snake and not harming the baby, import of foodgrains has to stop and indigenous high yield production encouraged.

In the international scene in 2007 the world supply of wheat took a beating due to drought in Australia, a freeze in USA and lower production in Ukraine. The price surge was also fuelled by the new US laws saying the use of ethanol for automobiles should be doubled in the next seven-eight years. Reduced corm availability means diversion of wheat to substitute it for cattle or poultry feed.

With food becoming a matter of such serious concern, the message from health sector is no less fearsome. At a conference organized by World Economic Forum in London in early March 08, business leaders across the world including India have agreed that tuberculosis which has in several years past been considered one of the world's biggest killers is at work again. It poses one of the gravest threats to the private sector and needs to be tackled on a war footing if people at the prime of the working lives are not to fall prey to the disease. Large Indian and international business houses that attended the meeting said they realized the fearful potential of TB once called white plague and a silent killer, some five years ago. The WEF report found that nearly one third of the more than 11,000 business leaders from over 130 countries felt they expected TB to affect their work and business in the next five years. One out of 10 said that expected the effects to be serious, especially because 75 percent of those who fall sick or die of TB are people working and in the prime of their working lives--aged anywhere between 15 years and 54 years.

It is known and universally accepted that TB clams millions of lives each year, with 1.6 million deaths reported in 2006, 98% of them in developing countries. The report said that companies in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and East European countries were most concerned, while countries like India which are hard hit by potential ailments like AIDS are concerned deeply about occurrence of TB.

In India larger private sector companies that incidentally insist on long working hours for their middle and senior level employees, are gradually but reluctantly taking the onus for health care for their employees, but and it is a very emphatic but, there are millions of people in both rural and urban India who are not covered by health insurance or protection in the form of facilities in the event of their falling ill. And as we all know, malnutrition, hunger, low food intake lead to ailments like tuberculosis, immunity dysfunctioning.

The situation is not peculiar to India alone. Concerted cooperation among developing and developed countries in the long run could help in reaching an equitable solution to this colossal human problem in the coming decades.