Seeding a policy without the dirt on climate change

"ICAR says knowledge of climate change impact in India is 'fragmentary'"

There are no conclusive studies in India on the prospective impact of climate change on the agriculture sector including livestock and fisheries. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Seeding a policy without the dirt on climate change Then, how can the government be tailoring its policies to mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture.

The government is moving towards the 12th Plan with a strategy that has potential to affect the country's food security and make it dependent on imports in the long term.

The simple requirement of farmers on the ground is advanced and accurate information on weather. Coastal States seek policies to sustain productive and protective habitats such as mangroves, coral reefs, wetlands and fisheries. Hilly States want development of traditional forest land to indigenously manage natural resources. High-altitude States prefer integrated soil and watershed management in a farming system mode to sustain them through the year. But the government has done precious little towards this.

Rather than the top-down policy shifts that could jeopardise food security, there is pressing need for honest location-specific research in partnership with small and marginal farmers to assess over a period of time the impact of climate change.

Instead of being driven by international funding, such research should be driven by the needs of farmers.

Investment in agriculture is best food security

The Editorial summarizes the financial loopholes and burdens with which the food security bill is coming to which the high command is turning a blind eye, largely for political reason:
http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/editorials/investment-in-agriculture-is-best-food-security/364154.html

The bill has already been cold shouldered by some of those who may possibly benefit from the scheme, due to its ambiguous clauses of requirements, and here, we see even the ruling class is apprehensive, due to the huge burden to the state exchequer.

The editorials ends with a call for an agricultural investment instead of wild explorations which at most may provide short term political benefits.

Delivery's The Key

If the goal is food security, then get the logistics right

Delivery's The Key

-The Times of India, February 10, 2012

From food security to food justice

"A quarter of a million women in Kerala are showing us how to earn livelihoods with dignity."

The Indian elite shrieks at the prospect of formalising a universal right to food. Notwithstanding the collective moral deficit this reveals, it also shows that the millions of Indians whose food rights are so flagrantly violated are completely voiceless in the policy space. India's problem is not only to secure food, but to secure food justice. The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : From food security to food justice.

 The experiment, "Sangha Krishi" or group farming, is part of Kerala's anti-poverty programme "Kudumbashree", initiated as a means to enhance local food production. These collectives lease fallow land, rejuvenate it, farm it and then either sell the produce or use it for consumption, depending on the needs of members. It is not a mere ‘project' or a ‘programme' but a social space where marginalised women can collectively pursue their needs and aspirations.

Kudumbashree office-bearers are elected, a crucial process for its members. These elections bring women into politics. And they bring with them a different set of values that can change politics. These groups are linked to state at village level and thus ensures that local development reflects the needs and aspirations of communities, who are not reduced to mere 'executors' of government programmes.  It is transforming the socio-political space that women inhabit — who in turn transform that space in vital ways.

Is this a sustainable, replicable model of food security? It is certainly one worth serious analysis!

Food as people's right

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Food as people's right

by M.S. Swaminathan, is a member of the Rajya Sabha and Chairman of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai.

"India is on the threshold of a historic transition from a ship-to-mouth existence to implementing the world's largest social protection programme against hunger with home-grown food."