The hands that feed us

"I am hungry. I have not taken anything since morning." Many of us use these lines frequently in our day to day life. But have we ever thought about it deeply. Do you know, what the real hunger is? Has there ever been a time in our life when we have no food for two or three days? We usually understand the importance of things when we either loose something or when we feel it by himself. We always ignore the fact that we can feel or experience physical pleasures only when our stomach is full. Food and water are the most basic necessity of all the living species on earth. 

Our mother earth provides all the living species equal opportunities to fulfill their requirements. It's on us, how we take it. There are a time in the history of human Civilization, when we have limited resources (say agriculture and animal husbandry) in the name of livelihood. But in today's modern period we have a lot of resources available for livelihood. We generally give preference to those fields, resources or careers where the return is good. But farming is an exception.

Think about how much food we eat each day and then think about how much food is needed to feed the ever-growing population of the world. A recent report of United Nations says that about 120 million people will die due to hunger. Some countries like Somalia, Yaman, South Sudan and north-east Nigeria are facing worst conditions. Even developing countries rank very low in hunger index.

Farming depends on many factors like quality of soil, water, climatic conditions like rain, quality of fertilizers and seeds etc. As the global warming have affected the climate, it has adverse effects on crop production. Loss of Agricultural land due to industrialisation, growing human population and over use of chemical fertilizers have posted a greater risk to the humans. Although technological advancements have improved the overall farming system and crop production, we still need enough land, water and human resources to fulfill the needs.

Farmers are facing tough times. While the most of the population engaged in other sectors are enjoying relative prosperity. The decreasing farm     prices and expensive fertilizers and machinery has affected them adversely. Farmers in most countries are even not able to fulfill their basic requirements from farming. They are facing problems like soil erosion, uneven weather conditions, irrigation, inadequate storage and transport facilities and scarcity of capital. With all these lack of knowledge of Agriculture Marketing especially in rural areas are hurting the most. In the absence of sound marketing facilities, the farmers have to depend on local traders and middleman for the disposal of their farm produce which is sold at throw away price. Farmers are compelled to leave their family farming business due to financial problems. 

The hands that feed us are feeling more pain than ever. The world leaders need to address the problems in farming and also the problems faced by the farmers. Otherwise the world will have to face tough times in future.