44
B. Anindya and K. N. Sekhar
community, in providing necessary goods like food have displaced the local initiatives. Besides, the MNCs care little about the environment, their exploitative production system and global goods transportation results in severe pollution. Moreover, it
creates a culture of excessive consumption leading to unsustainable consumerism.
Therefore, globalisation negatively affects local economic resilience, autonomy, the
environment and sustainability. For á developing country like India, the semi-literate
farmers who are not market savvy and are unaware of the market nuances are often
controlled by middlemen and are forced to have indirect access in the urban markets.
This absence of direct link with the consumers affects the availability and price too
affecting both rural farmers and urban consumers which can only be catered by
shortening the supply chain, bringing producers close to the consumers.
When the twentieth century began, about 12.5% or 200 million people lived in
cities [54]. As per the prediction of United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs [57] in Urban Ecology 2050 the urban population is going to account
for 67% of the global population. Knorr et al. [33], estimated that by the end of
2020, the global urban population will be 54% and is expected to shoot over 60%
by 2030 with the trend being stronger for the developing countries. Out of the 34
megacities, 19 are located in Asia and it has been predicted that by 2030, there
would be 41 megacities, of which the majority would be in low-to-middle-income
countries [28] which creates more concern for adequate food supply during phases
of severe disruptions. With the increasing trend of globalisation, rapid urbanisation
is intrinsically linked. Though the universally accepted definition of ‘urban’ is still
not there, certain parameters are considered in most cases—population threshold,
population density, level of infrastructure, employment type, etc. The urban areas and
their resource uses are dynamic in nature, the challenge faced is to transform the cities
into self-regulating, sustainable systems where those will become viable—socially,
economically, as well as environmentally. It has been aptly put, that urban dwellers do
not actually live in a civilisation, but in a mobilisation concerning natural resources,
people and products [14]. One of the major goals of United Nations Development
Programme [58] is to ‘make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ through
implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.
It was globalisation that made several food items available all over the world
through improved trade and logistics management, increasing the profitability of the
food industry and flexibility of choices for the consumers. This led to the changed
dietary habits of the consumers who instead of local produces and markets became
more dependent on imported produce and supermarket chains. It is difficult to be
unequivocal about the impact of globalisation. Undoubtedly, it expanded the horizon
of food produce exchange but at the same time the local producers and short food
supply chains were not able to get integrated into the global business due to limited
production capacity, non-competitive prices which are dominated by the big multinational players. The ones who oppose the wave of globalisation and resultant urbanisation mention that it creates predatory markets for production and consumption
hampering diversity and self-reliance. It is often cited that cities of northern countries are engaged in exporting the surpluses of less nutritious food and importing
nutritious ones mostly from the global south [34].
B. Anindya and K. N. Sekhar
community, in providing necessary goods like food have displaced the local initiatives. Besides, the MNCs care little about the environment, their exploitative production system and global goods transportation results in severe pollution. Moreover, it
creates a culture of excessive consumption leading to unsustainable consumerism.
Therefore, globalisation negatively affects local economic resilience, autonomy, the
environment and sustainability. For á developing country like India, the semi-literate
farmers who are not market savvy and are unaware of the market nuances are often
controlled by middlemen and are forced to have indirect access in the urban markets.
This absence of direct link with the consumers affects the availability and price too
affecting both rural farmers and urban consumers which can only be catered by
shortening the supply chain, bringing producers close to the consumers.
When the twentieth century began, about 12.5% or 200 million people lived in
cities [54]. As per the prediction of United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs [57] in Urban Ecology 2050 the urban population is going to account
for 67% of the global population. Knorr et al. [33], estimated that by the end of
2020, the global urban population will be 54% and is expected to shoot over 60%
by 2030 with the trend being stronger for the developing countries. Out of the 34
megacities, 19 are located in Asia and it has been predicted that by 2030, there
would be 41 megacities, of which the majority would be in low-to-middle-income
countries [28] which creates more concern for adequate food supply during phases
of severe disruptions. With the increasing trend of globalisation, rapid urbanisation
is intrinsically linked. Though the universally accepted definition of ‘urban’ is still
not there, certain parameters are considered in most cases—population threshold,
population density, level of infrastructure, employment type, etc. The urban areas and
their resource uses are dynamic in nature, the challenge faced is to transform the cities
into self-regulating, sustainable systems where those will become viable—socially,
economically, as well as environmentally. It has been aptly put, that urban dwellers do
not actually live in a civilisation, but in a mobilisation concerning natural resources,
people and products [14]. One of the major goals of United Nations Development
Programme [58] is to ‘make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ through
implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.
It was globalisation that made several food items available all over the world
through improved trade and logistics management, increasing the profitability of the
food industry and flexibility of choices for the consumers. This led to the changed
dietary habits of the consumers who instead of local produces and markets became
more dependent on imported produce and supermarket chains. It is difficult to be
unequivocal about the impact of globalisation. Undoubtedly, it expanded the horizon
of food produce exchange but at the same time the local producers and short food
supply chains were not able to get integrated into the global business due to limited
production capacity, non-competitive prices which are dominated by the big multinational players. The ones who oppose the wave of globalisation and resultant urbanisation mention that it creates predatory markets for production and consumption
hampering diversity and self-reliance. It is often cited that cities of northern countries are engaged in exporting the surpluses of less nutritious food and importing
nutritious ones mostly from the global south [34].