Food Assistance to the Calamity-Hit Victims of Recurrent Floods, Cyclones, Earthquakes and Droughts in India – A Review

Abstract

India has been facing the wrath of natural calamities pertaining to its unique geography and varied climatic patterns from time immemorial. The purpose of this paper is to gather data pertaining to food assistance provided to stranded evacuees in the aftermath of Natural Calamities. Food assistance forms crucial part of humanitarian assistance to provide immediate relief to victims and help in their speedy recovery from injuries, illness and psychological distress. We aimed to collect information on the type of food, quantities of food and cultural competence of food because India has a wide diversity in food eating patterns across its regions. We also took into account the rescue operations involving role of different stakeholders like government organizations, Armed forces, paramilitary forces, NGOs, international donors and volunteers who usually work independently but gather together aftermath of any calamity or disaster, to address the problems that arise with a common shared goal in a coordinated and effective manner. The paper was basically a desk study involving compilation and analyses of information and data from official documents, research papers/reports of National and International agencies, NGOs and media reports such as newspaper articles featuring the updates on calamity. The paper concluded that, although there is enough information on disaster aftermath including rescue operations yet there is a dearth of detailed information about the food assistance in terms of type of food, quantities and cultural competency of food aid. The findings suggested that cultural competence in food aid is an important area to focus on as the stranded evacuees may have a wider acceptance of the food when they see culturally familiar foods in their food basket. Also, there should be clear documentation of the food aid in terms of quantity and distribution so that nutrition professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders can effectively debate and design the food policies and feeding programmes incongruent with identified food needs of stranded evacuees.