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Regional Cooperation in Food and
Nutrition Security in South Asia
Prof. S.Mahendra Dev
Director and Vice Chancellor, IGIDR, Mumbai
Food Security in India and SA Availability: Projections show foodgrain availability is
not a problem. Supply problem in pulses, oilseeds,
fruits, vegetables, meat etc.
High food inflation and price volatility
Access of food is a problem for the poor.
Much more problem is malnutrition among women
and children. Still 45% suffer of children suffer from
underweight and stunting.
This is true of South Asia in general. The levels of
malnutrition in South Asia are almost double to those
of Sub-Saharan Africa
In India and South Asia, agri. productivity has to be
improved. But, Distribution is the main issue
Post-2015 development agenda. Focus on nutrition.
Policies for Improving food and Nutrition Security
Improvement in agricultural productivity is
crucial. Investment in agriculture and rural
infrastructure (subsidies vs. investments)
Inclusive agricultural growth is important as
there is disconnect between economic
growth/agricultural growth and nutrition due to
higher inequalities. Thus, distribution important.
It is known that food insecurity and malnutrition
is high among small farmers, agricultural
labourers, women, SCs and STs, rainfed areas.
Focus on them will improve agri productivity
(inclusive agriculture) and reduce food insecurity
& malnutrition.
Policies for Improving food and Nutrition Security Access and nutrition are determined by several
factors: agricultural growth, health, role of gender,
social protection programmes, sanitation, safe
drinking water, nutrition education etc.
In South Asia, 1.2 billion do not have toilets and
openly defecate (India 53% of population no toilets)
National Food Security Act of India can have food
security implications at regional and global levels
(820 million people would be provided)
Gender Empowerment is the most important for food
and nutrition security in the region.
Need for convergence convergence of several
departments (e.g. agri, health, women & child)
Apart from national strategies, regional cooperation
and knowledge net works are important
Regional Cooperation in South Asia Regional cooperation has to be in all aspects of
food security: Availability, Access and nutrition.
Regional Cooperation can be in the following
areas.
1. food and agriculture
2. climate change and disaster management.
3. Free Trade agreements like SAFTA
4. Intellectual property rights in agriculture
5. Energy and water
6. Cooperation on global issues
7. Learning from each other: post harvest
technologies and operations, social protection
programs, accountability and governance
1. Cooperation in food and agriculture Presently we have SAARC food bank: India is
having 63% of reserves. But it is not as efficient as
ASEAN food reserves.
SAARC Seed Bank: It is a good step. But, regulation
is important
Cooperation in agriculture: Technical Committee on
Agriculture and Rural Development (TCARD)
There are several opportunities in agriculture R&D
There is a need to improve productivity of rice and
wheat in the region so that land can be released.
Joint agricultural research programmes for
development of abiotic stress tolerant improved
varieties and hybrids, and natural resource
management techniques (e.g.minimum tillage)
1. Cooperation in Agriculture •Cooperation in new sciences such as GIS, remote
sensing, water forecasting, systems modeling
•Free exchange of technology and information such as
germplasm, improved animal breed, improved disease
management technologies and practices
•Capacity building through development of regional
training facilities (Hossain, 2011)
Another important thing is cooperation in livestock and
fish
In South Asia, live stock contributes more than 25% of
agri. GDP. It provides proteins, calories and micro
nutrients.
Among other things, cooperation is needed on animal
diseases.
2. Cooperation on climate change
This is an important area for cooperation.
Climate change will affect South Asian economies.
It is likely to have strong adverse effects on food
production and the poor as many people in the
region live in areas of sensitive agriculture.
South Asia has least cooperation. Opportunities
Joint project under SAARC for adaptation to climate
change needed
Develop technologies suitable for drought-prone,
submerged and saline
Promote climate resilient crops e.g. ground nut,
chick peas and other pulses
Disseminate climate impact related information
Climate Change Climate change policies should not be limited to
disaster management but much wider
In India, IFPRI is examining climate-smart
interventions and the economic feasibility of
using them for major crops like rice, wheat, and
maize. In the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain.
IFPRI is studying local institutional and policy
factors that foster or impede climate resilient
farming systems with emphasis in Nepal, Bihar,
and West Bengal in India, and north western
Bangladesh.
These are good incentives and govts. can
consider
3. Free Trade Agreements like SAFTA
Till Sept 2013, the total value of exports reached
about $ 3 billion.
Intra-SAARC trade is only 5% of total. They are
far below potential
One of the contentious issue is sensitive list.
Agricultural tariffs are still high.
Liberalization of tariffs (including reducing
sensitive list), non-tariff barriers, transport and
transit barriers and customs reforms are needed
Avoid export bans on food.
4.Cooperation in IPRs in agri.
The concern is on the impact of TRIPS
Increasing role of private sector in seed
supply may lead to more expensive seeds
and preventing farmers to use seeds.
A sui generis system to address the
concerns of farmers
Need for regional approach for IPRs in
agri. In South Asia by following holistic
approach including protecting farmers’
rights
5. Cooperation in Energy and Water Energy and water are crucial for food security in
South Asia region.
Energy: At country level, there is a mis-match
between demand and supply in energy and gives
scope for inter-regional trade.
Potential for hydro-power cooperation
Identify projects on energy for cooperation
Water is the most important resource which has to
be expanded and used efficiently.
Climate change may have adverse impact on
water resource in the region. Decrease in quantity
and quality; increase in floods and droughts
5. Cooperation in Energy and Water There can be regional cooperation in several
areas in water resources
But, most important thing would be
agreements regarding rivers.
Some of the examples of cooperation are:
Indo-Pak treaty on Sindh river, Indo-Pak
agreement on use of Ganga river in Farraka
Indo-Bangladesh issues on Teesta river.
Instead of only bilateral treaties, multilateral
dialogues are needed
6. Acting on Global level cooperation South Asia should have regional agenda and
common positions in forums like WTO
It should continue to protect and pursue its regional
interests in these negotiations.
The region should continue to press for reduction in
subsidies in developed countries
Initiatives by G20: commit five main objectives:
improving agri productivity, share market information
and transparency, strengthen international policy
coordination, imrove and develop risk management
tools etc.
Cooperation in reducing speculative activities and
conversion of bio fuels
7. Learning in post-harvest operations Even when the yields are high, producers lose
income due to poor post-harvest practices.
Improved post-harvest handling and processing
is essential to ensure high quality and value add.
Storage is another area needs focus.
Food processing sector needs huge investments
in logistics for supporting the value chain from
farm to plate.
It is largely a private sector activity but
government should provide needed incentives
for faster investments.
Here also one can learn from each other in
South Asia
8. Learning from social protection programs South Asia has several social protection programs.
India: NREGA, PDS, proposed National Food
Security Act, ICDS, National rural livelihoods
mission etc.
Many innovative delivery systems: NREGA in
Andhra Pradesh, PDS in Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh,
Himachal Pradesh, grain banks by SEWA.
Bangladesh: 100 days of employment and other
programs
Pakistan: cash transfers
Similarly Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan
have social protection programs.
One can learn from each other particularly in design
and delivery systems
9. Learning on accountability and delivery systems
One of the problems in South Asia is poor public
delivery systems.
There are many good practices in different parts
of South Asia.
For example, Bangladesh has done well in
reducing infant mortality and improving girls
education than other countries including India.
This could be because of accountability at ground
level due to alert civil society.
Similarly, some programs are doing well in some
states of India due to better governance.
Lessons can be learnt on accountability and
governance.
10. Cooperation in knowledge networks Networking of knowledge networks for
enhancing food&nutrition security in the region.
Networking among academic institutes,
universities, civil society, research projects etc.
For example, there are several research projects
on agriculture-nutrition linkages in South Asia.
• LANSA (Leveraging agriculture and nutrition in
South Asia, DFID funded), CGIAR’s A4NH on
agriculture for improved nutrition and health, world
bank’s SAFANSI, Tackling Agriculture and Nutrition
Disconnect in India, TANDI II (IGIDR, gates)
• Websites on food and nutrition e.g. POSHAN IFPRI
• South-South Cooperation CGIAR systems, ICRISAT
Conclusion Improvement in agricultural productivity is important
in South Asia.
However, distribution is the main issue for access
and nutrition
There are many areas for regional cooperation.
Presently there are agreements on food bank, seed
bank and SAFTA.
We need to prioritize cooperation in areas for quick
win solutions. Of course, cooperation in agricultural
research and technology is one option.
But, focus on three areas: (a) Trade; (b) water and
energy (c) climate change.
Learning from each other particularly on nutrition:
direct nutrition programs, gender, health, sanitation
THANK YOU