LAUNCHING GROW: TO SET A TABLE FOR NINE BILLION
Oxfam came in India in 1951, in response to famine in Bihar. Unfortunately even after 60 years, hunger and malnutrition remain major challenges for India. Today, for the first time in human history, a billion people in the world go to bed hungry every night, of which a quarter or 250 million people live in India. When India has doubled the size of its economy between 1990 and 2005, why has the number of hungry people increased by 65 million during this period? Why are half of our children undernourished and stunted? Why is India having ‘alarming levels of hunger’ on Global Hunger Index ranking 67th out of 122 developing countries (while China ranks 9th)?
Oxfam launched a food justice campaign GROW on June 1, 2011 with an aim to build another future, a future where everyone has enough to eat always. The campaign was simultaneously launched in 37 countries across the globe. In India it was launched in New Delhi and five other cities including Guwahati, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai and Patna.
The launch in Delhi started with press conference, panelists involving Rahul Bose, brand ambassador of Oxfam India; Nisha Agrawal, CEO of Oxfam India; and Lalla, a woman farmer from Uttar Pradesh. The GROW logo was unveiled followed by inauguration of GROW exhibition and an evening of creative expressions of hunger.
"The number of hungry people in other countries has decreased but in India the situation is opposite. In 1991 there were eight and a half crore hungry people in our country and today we have 25 crores hungry people," Rahul said. “Our world is capable of feeding all of humanity yet one in seven of us are hungry today, it’s because we have stopped respecting the rights of poor people”, he further added.
“There is enough food for everyone to eat, but our broken food system derails the supply of food to the hungry. With the launch of this campaign, we aim at making 3 big shifts in how we grow, live and share better on the planet”, said Nisha.
Remembering the past Lalla said, “I remember my childhood days, when my father used to plough others’ fields. When he used to take a lunch break, I would run and try ploughing the field. He never used to let me touch the plough. Girls were not allowed to do so, as it was believed that in such a case God gets angry leading to draught. It took me many years of struggle to change this perception. After my marriage I started ploughing in the night, and only from AROH’s motivation in 2006 I gathered the courage to do so during the day.”
“Women work much harder than men. They work in the fields with men, and take care of their families as well. Then why is a woman not recognized as a famer? She should get the right to land entitlement as a man has. If we don’t get our right as a farmer, then all the women farmers of UP will come to Delhi and seek justice from the government here”, added Lalla.
The press conference was followed by the GROW exhibition, displaying different stories from Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Assam. The exhibition communicated Oxfam’s strategy to fight hunger in India, through their ten asks for food for all on issues of food production and distribution, land grabs, climate change and food price crisis.
The evening of creative expressions of hunger started with the launch of theme song Roti Roothi and its live performance by Sandeep Srivastava and band. The song beautifully conveyed the essence of hunger for the poor, the causes and its implications.
This was followed by the hunger readings presented by Antara Dev Sen and Little magazine. One of the poems dealt with the changing definitions of poverty and poverty line, while the ground reality remains the same for the poor. Another poem talked about how hunger deaths have just become statistics and nobody is stirred or moved by starvation or death.
The Rajasthani Jogia Mandali used their rich folk tradition to create awareness about water and the earth’s natural resources and how they need to be preserved. There was another song which talked about the work being done by women farmers. Sumangala Damodaran’s performance on the forgotten songs of 1940s and 1950s brushed up the memories of the Bengal famine. A guitar performance by Susmit Sen of Indian Ocean from his upcoming album was a fitting finale to the evening and a perfect tribute to farm women.