Better Business
October 2006
Banner photo: Partially Harvested Corn Field/corbis
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan--A World Without Hunger
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan (left), president of the Pugwash
Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and SGI President
Ikeda during their meeting in April 2004
[©Seikyo Shimbun]
There is no such word as impossible, Dr. M. S. Swaminathan's father used to say; it exists within the mind of the person who has decided it to be the case. This is the philosophy that has governed Dr. Swaminathan's life.
Though a promising academic career awaited him in the U.S.A., Dr. Swaminathan resisted the temptation. He had studied genetics for a reason--to help the poor, to make it possible for India to produce enough grain to feed its people.
In the 1960s, working with farmers under the hot sun, he developed new varieties of wheat and rice that produced tremendous yields. His research is believed to have saved at least 70 million people from starvation in India alone. The multitudes of Asia were saved from hunger by his work, in what is now known as the Green Revolution.
Whenever his achievements are praised, Dr. Swaminathan replies that increased agricultural production is the result of farmers' efforts. He remarks, "The urban public seldom recognizes that we live in this world as guests of green plants and of the farmers who cultivate them. . . . Unfortunately, the well-fed do not seem to be very concerned with the hunger of other people. . . . Most people fear that 'if others get more, I will get less' . . . a fear of having to share power and resources. We need to show that helping the weak become strong solidifies the whole community. . . . The prospect for a world without hunger is a glorious legacy given to our contemporary world."
Some 78 percent of the world's population suffers from poverty, and 70 percent of those people are women in developing countries. Though Dr. Swaminathan is usually the picture of geniality, his words grow heated when he speaks of the pervasive inequality of today's world. There is no peace in a place wracked by hunger and starvation, which is why the achievement of social justice is crucial to bringing peace. "In considering the problem of hunger," Dr. Swaminathan told me when we met in April 2004, "the real issue is ensuring quality of life for all. To do that, we need to reorient ourselves from a profit-driven economy to an economy that respects the dignity of human life."
Dr. Swaminathan chose agriculture as his field because of the Bengal Famine of 1943, in which an estimated 3 million died. Greed exacted a terrible price in that famine, as people hoarded food until it skyrocketed in price. Today wealthy industrialized countries buy huge quantities of foodstuffs at any price, then throw away the surplus. In this way, the spread of hunger--in spite of sufficient food to feed all humankind--has been institutionalized.
Today hunger is not a natural disaster. It is a disaster caused by human behavior, which is why Dr. Swaminathan has boldly declared that it can be solved. Problems caused by human beings can be solved by human beings.
Dr. Swaminathan continues to try to find ways to assist poor farmers, in particular to find ways in which they can help themselves. He believes that development should not produce winners and losers; instead, it should benefit all. He advocates alliances between various parties, including business, government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and consumer groups. He has also proposed the formation of community food banks and an International Bank for Nutrition for All.
In 1988, he established the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), which has made one of its main projects the promotion of "biovillages" in every region. He describes how "women are suffering the most. One of the aims of the foundation is to eliminate that suffering. Women are carrying a double or triple burden, not only caring for children and the home but often also working outside the home, for a total of as many as 18 or 19 hours each day. They aren't eating properly and are completely exhausted."
MSSRF comes up with economically feasible plans that make the best use of the women's immediate circumstances and environment, and then implements those projects in cooperation with the village. It is an attempt to carry out a "job revolution" that will produce new sources of revenue for the working poor.
Given a Chance
For example, one illiterate village woman had four children, two of whom were disabled. She and her husband were employed as agricultural laborers, but could barely make ends meet. The foundation suggested that the wife go into dairy farming. She borrowed a small amount from the foundation and bought a cow. She sold the milk and was able to buy more cows. Eventually she formed a group with nine friends to learn more about dairy farming. Her dream now is to someday own a dairy farm of her own.
Another woman had an alcoholic husband and three children in school. They were very short of money for the barest necessities. The foundation advised her to try her hand at growing flowers for sale. She cultivated a small plot of land given to her, and after much thought planted flowers popular as hair decorations among women of South India. Her orange and yellow flowers sold well, and she now earns a good living.
Dr. Swaminathan outlines the reason for these successes in uplifting people's economic condition, saying that the secret is starting with the most destitute, because they are powerfully motivated to improve their lot. They are quick to adopt new methods and approaches once they are convinced they will work. They learn by doing, quickly mastering new technologies, he says, remarking on how inspiring it is to observe this process.
These are women who have been regarded by society as incapable and perhaps even unwilling to make any meaningful effort, but the reality is very different. When given the opportunity to fight against their poverty, they fight with all their strength. They give themselves gladly and completely for the sake of a better future for their children. All they need is someone who has faith in them and encourages them, someone who doesn't write them off as hopeless from the start.
One of the women assisted by the foundation was disabled, and another had fled from an unhappy marriage. Both were advised to take up cultivating oyster mushrooms, and succeeded so well that they completely turned their lives around. A depressed, childless woman joined an MSSRF group and began to make ropes out of coconut fiber. Now she employs several people and operates a power loom. Dr. Swaminathan reports of women with basic elementary schooling mastering the computer in just two weeks.
People are the most important resource in the elimination of poverty.
"There is a tremendous latent, untapped potential in our country," concludes Dr. Swaminathan. "It's very wrong to describe the poor as 'beneficiaries'; it's a patronage approach. We must have a paradigm shift from patronage to partnership--genuine partnership on the basis of mutual respect."
The problem of world hunger is inseparable from how we choose to live our lives. Dr. Swaminathan asserts that it is possible to eliminate hunger. But there is a condition: We can only do it if the more fortunate people, especially the leaders of the world, put these words of Gandhi into action: "Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you have seen, and ask yourself if the steps you contemplate are going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore to him control over his own life and destiny?"
These words, this flame of compassion, are the torch that has illuminated Dr. Swaminathan's life.
