Question Details

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 policy issue for a closed 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 surpluses 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 in purchasing power. The uneven distribution of hunger, starvation, under or malnourishment, etc., at the world-level, thus owes itself to the presence of empty-pocket, hungry mouths, overwhelmingly confined to the underdeveloped economies. Inasmuch 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 of 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 poor
3. Regulating the conditions of marketing
4. Providing food subsidy to one and all
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Options

A

1 and 2 only

B

2 and 3 only

C

1, 3 and 4 only

D

1, 2, 3 and 4

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option B

2 and 3 only

Solution :

The correct answer is 2 and 3 only.


Step-by-step Explanation:

To determine the fundamental solutions for the world food security problem based on the provided passage, we analyze the text step-by-step:


1. Analyzing Statement 2 (Improving the price affordability by the poor):
The passage explicitly states that global food availability does not guarantee distribution to deficit countries if they lack purchasing power ("presence of empty-pocket, hungry mouths, overwhelmingly confined to the underdeveloped economies"). It also highlights that "price-affordability by the poor in the developing world" has become a global issue requiring global solutions. Therefore, improving price affordability is directly supported by the passage as a fundamental solution.


2. Analyzing Statement 3 (Regulating the conditions of marketing):
The text mentions that "Food production, marketing and prices... have become global issues that need global thinking and global solutions." This directly indicates that regulating or managing the conditions of food marketing at a global level is a necessary solution to address the food security problem.


3. Analyzing Statement 1 (Setting up more agro-based industries):
The passage discusses agricultural supply, demand changes, and domestic agriculture capabilities under strain. However, it does not mention or advocate for the setup of "agro-based industries" as a solution to world food security.


4. Analyzing Statement 4 (Providing food subsidy to one and all):
While the passage emphasizes the problem of the poor lacking purchasing power and the need for affordable prices, it does not suggest providing food subsidies to "one and all" (universal subsidy) as a solution.


Therefore, only statements 2 and 3 are identified as fundamental solutions based strictly on the text, making "2 and 3 only" the correct option.

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