Comprehension : Comprehension

Q 274 / 466

UPSC CSE Prelims 2016

Historically, the biggest challenge to world agriculture has been to achieve a balance between demand for and supply of food. At the level of individual countries, the demand-supply balance can be a critical, issue for a close4 economy, especially if it is a populous economy and its domestic agriculture is not growing sufficiently enough to ensure food supplies, on an enduring basis; it is not so much and, not always, of a constraint for an. open, and growing economy, which has adequate exchange surplus to buy food abroad. For the world as a whole, Supply-demand balance is always an inescapable prerequisite for warding off hunger and starvation. However, global availability of adequate supply does not necessarily mean that food would, automatically move from countries of surplus to countries of deficit if the latter lack iii purchasing power. The uneven distribution of Hunger, starvation, under or malnourishment, etc., at the world-level, thus owes itself to the presence of empty-pock hungry mouths, overwhelmingly confined to the underdeveloped economies. In as much as 'a two square meal' is of elemental significance to basic human existence, the issue of worldwide supply of food has been gaining significance, in recent times, both because the quantum and the composition of demand has been undergoing big changes, and because, in, recent years, the capabilities individual countries to generate uninterrupted chain of food supplies have come under strain. Food production, marketing and prices, especially price-affordability by the poor in the developing world, have become global issues that need global thinking and global solutions.

According to the above passage, which of, the following are the fundamental solutions for the world food security problem?

  1. Setting up more agro-based industries
  2. Improving the price affordability by the floor
  3. Regulating the conditions of marketing
  4. Providing food subsidy to one and all

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

EXPLANATION

Correct Option (B)

The passage explicitly identifies "price-affordability by the poor in the developing world" as a global issue requiring global solutions for food security. Therefore, improving price affordability is a fundamental solution. Additionally, the passage states that "Food production, marketing and prices... have become global issues that need global thinking and global solutions." Regulating the conditions of marketing directly addresses the challenges within the marketing aspect of food supply, which the passage highlights as being under strain and needing global attention.

Incorrect Options:

Statement 1: The passage does not mention "setting up more agro-based industries" as a fundamental solution to the world food security problem. Its focus for global solutions is on issues like affordability and marketing conditions.

Statement 4: While the passage emphasizes addressing the lack of purchasing power among the poor and ensuring affordability, it does not advocate for providing food subsidy to "one and all" as a fundamental solution. The emphasis is on targeted affordability for the vulnerable populations rather than universal subsidies.