Odisha Shramajeebee Mancha’s Continued Struggle for Nutrition and Food Security For All

Abstract

Food Security generally refers to a nation's ability to provide for its citizens' needs in terms of obtaining, purchasing, and consuming an adequate amount of food. At the first World Food Conference in 1996, the United Nations Committee on Global Food Security defined food security as everyone having access to enough safe and nourishing food to suit their dietary needs and preferences for an active and healthy life. Furthermore, the guarantee of food security is accessible to everyone, regardless of caste, religion, caste, gender, area, and economic class. The same World Food Conference declared that food shouldn't be a tool for putting political and economic pressure on people. The United Nations has ratified a number of accords, including the Sustainable Development Goals, to lessen hunger and poverty. Target 2 of this Agreement states that by 2030, there will be a widespread agreement to end hunger globally, ensure food security and better nutrition, and support sustainable agriculture.

As a result, we can state that all people worldwide, regardless of caste, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, etc., would have access to food security. Right to Food is claimed to be free from hunger. There have been civil society movements for proper legislation to ensure enough food for everyone nationally and at the state level. These movements have helped in conceptualizing the act and improving its implementation. This article will explain the role Odisha Shramajeebee Mancha (Odisha Labourers Forum) played in advocating and implementing the Food Security Act 2013 in the state.