Farm challenges

 The relationship between climate and agriculture is closely interconnected with worldwide processes. Even a minor alteration in climate can have detrimental impacts on agricultural productivity and the production of agricultural goods.

he relationship between climate and agriculture is closely interconnected with worldwide processes. Even a minor alteration in climate can have detrimental impacts on agricultural productivity and the production of agricultural goods. While the contribution of agriculture to India’s economy has been decreasing over time, approximately 75 per cent of India’s population relies on rural incomes. Furthermore, India’s ability to ensure adequate food supply depends on the cultivation of cereal crops and the enhanced yield of fruits, vegetables, and milk to satisfy the needs of an expanding population with increasing incomes. Nevertheless, the Indian agricultural sector encounters difficulties due to severe weather phenomena such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and others, which have severely impacted overall productivity.

Therefore, it is crucial to enact policies that focus on enhancing overall agricultural productivity, expanding diversification, and encouraging sustainable agricultural practices. India’s agriculture sector encounters a multitude of challenges. The adverse consequences of climate change include the occurrence of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, heatwaves, and coastal inundation. These events have resulted in a decrease in crop yield, reduced productivity in livestock, and have caused millions of people to fall into a cycle of poverty and food insecurity. In India, a rise in temperature of 1.5° C and a decrease in precipitation of 2 mm result in a reduction in rice yield ranging from 3 to 15 per cent. Soil fertility is reduced due to the excessive use of fertilisers and chemicals, which leads to soil degradation and erosion. Consequently, the soil becomes more vulnerable to pests and diseases.

The overall productivity has stagnated as a result of insufficient nutrients in the soil. In addition, the implementation of inappropriate land use practices and the burning of crop residues during harvest season have contributed to soil erosion, resulting in significant and lasting impacts on agricultural productivity and sustainability. In India, the lack of adequate agricultural infrastructure, such as storage facilities, pack houses, and efficient supply chains, contributes to higher post-harvest losses. Moreover, the absence of fundamental infrastructure such as road and rail connectivity impedes the farmers’ access to markets and contributes to increased production expenses. The Indian agricultural sector continues to rely on primitive agri-technologies for the production of agricultural goods. The limited availability of modern technologies hampers the ability to widely adopt innovative agricultural practices.

In numerous rural regions, the absence of banking institutions and financial establishments poses challenges for farmers in securing loans and credit facilities. Furthermore, the combination of exorbitant interest rates and restricted availability of formal credit impede the productivity of farmers. This, in turn, prevents them from embracing contemporary farming methods, effectively managing market risks, and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. In the Indian context, landholdings are fragmented, meaning that the average size of land owned by individuals is relatively small. This poses challenges in adopting modern farming techniques and achieving economies of scale. Insufficient mechanisation is evident in the agricultural sector, where traditional methods and tools such as sickles and wooden ploughs are still predominantly utilised. There is a need to transition from traditional approaches to contemporary methodologies in order to enhance production on a large scale.

Inadequate agricultural marketing infrastructure results in farmers being dependent on local traders and intermediaries to sell their produce, often at prices that do not reflect true value. As per the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, if adaptation measures are not adopted, rainfed rice yields in India are estimated to decrease by 20 per cent in 2050 and 47 per cent in 2080 scenarios. Similarly, irrigated rice yields are projected to decrease by 3.5 per cent in 2050 and 5 per cent in 2080 scenarios. Climate change diminishes crop yields and decreases the nutritional quality of produce. Moreover, the occurrence of severe events such as droughts and flash floods has a detrimental effect on the consumption of food and nutrients, thereby exacerbating the overall impact on the welfare of farmers.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (2020) report says India still struggles to feed its undernourished population despite producing an estimated 314 million metric tonnes of food in 2021-22, which falls short of achieving food security and meeting the Global Goals for Adaptation. In order to satisfy the increasing need for food due to a growing population and higher income levels, India will have to almost double its food production by the year 2050. In order to surmount these ever-changing obstacles, the Government of India has devised strategies to enhance the adaptability of agriculture to climate change. The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is a component of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

Its objective is to develop and execute strategies to enhance the adaptability of agriculture to the impacts of climate change. It is imperative to prioritise the development of adaptation strategies that specifically target climate-resilient agricultural practices. These practices should focus on enhancing agricultural productivity to meet global and food security objectives, enhancing the resilience and adaptability of agricultural systems to climate change, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate risks. India must adopt a multidimensional approach to address challenges related to climate change by implementing a diverse set of adaptation strategies, in addition to adopting climateresilient practices. Technologies for Adaptation refer to the utilisation of technology to decrease susceptibility or improve the ability to withstand the effects of climate change. In the field of agriculture, technologies for adaptation refer to the process of identifying and evaluating agricultural practices and technologies that improve overall productivity, food security, and resilience in specific agro-ecological zones and farming systems.

Multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration are crucial for improving the effectiveness of policies and facilitating the widespread adoption of agricultural adaptation technologies. Cooperation and collaboration among various stakeholders at different levels are necessary for the smooth dissemination of these technologies. Capacity building is crucial for the government to improve its ability to adapt to and address the negative impacts of climate change in any policy. As per the OECD, it is crucial to enhance absorptive capacity, which refers to a system’s capability to effectively handle immediate climate-related consequences. This encompasses strategies like implementing early warning systems to assist farmers in adapting their practices and establishing crop insurance schemes to provide compensation for any incurred losses. Infrastructure capacity development is crucial for enhancing overall productivity, and it is imperative that the infrastructure is designed to be climate resilient.

The government should implement policies aimed at constructing and enhancing current storage facilities in order to mitigate post-harvest losses. Simultaneously, it is crucial to establish basic infrastructure such as road and rail connectivity to enhance farmers’ access to markets, thereby facilitating the connection between farmers and consumers. Soil management is crucial for agriculture to cope with climate change, improve soil durability, and support sustainable farming methods. The government should enforce diverse soil management techniques to achieve these goals. Cover crops are cultivated specifically to provide soil coverage during periods of inactivity, effectively mitigating soil erosion. Furthermore, implementing crop rotation in a methodical manner can enhance the equilibrium of soil nutrients and decrease the need for fertilisers and chemicals, thus augmenting the content of organic matter in the soil and improving its overall health. Water management is crucial in conjunction with agricultural policies and investments to ensure the development of climate-resilient agriculture production systems.

Utilising a blend of regulatory, economic, and collective strategies is necessary to effectively address groundwater sustainability. This is crucial because aquifers are the largest water reservoirs worldwide and play a vital role in supporting irrigated agriculture in important production areas. Water policies encompass water allocation systems that can effectively manage water demand and supply in response to variations in precipitation. Policy formulation involves the development of strategies and guidelines to address adaptation principles at various levels, including local, regional, national, and international. These policies aim to ensure that the factors that contribute to successful adaptation are replicated across different scales. Past experiences with agricultural adaptation technologies have revealed specific requirements for effective policies and recommendations to facilitate the successful implementation of these technologies in adapting agriculture to climate change.

Financial inclusion is essential for addressing the substantial lack of funding for climate adaptation. To bridge this gap, it is crucial to gather financial resources from private sector investments. Inclusive financial systems play a vital role in directing finance to the most vulnerable individuals and last mile workers, including farmers. Establishing Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) can enable farmers to enhance productivity, allocate resources towards farm mechanisation, and take advantage of economies of scale. Moreover, agricultural-focused non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and financial technology (Fintech) can assist farmers in fulfilling their extended credit requirements, thus promoting their income expansion. Although these strategies are in place, the benefits of adapting to climate change also contribute to mitigating its effects through various methods.

These benefits encompass enhanced energy efficiency, decreased urban energy and water usage resulting from greening and recycling initiatives, sustainable farming practices, and the preservation of ecosystems and their associated advantages. To effectively tackle the challenges in India’s agriculture sector, a comprehensive strategy is needed, encompassing technological advancements, optimal utilisation of resources, policy restructuring, and enhancing capabilities. India can bolster agricultural productivity and guarantee food security by implementing these adaptation strategies, thereby making a significant contribution to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

P GARGI RAO

Source: The Statesman, 13/06/24

GoI-UNSDCF 2023-2027

 The Government of India (GoI) and the United Nations (UN) have joined hands to strengthen their commitment towards sustainable development. A significant milestone was achieved with the signing of the Government of India – United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (GoI-UNSDCF) 2023-2027. This partnership aims to accelerate progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promote gender equality, empower youth, and uphold human rights.

Objectives and Pillars of the GoI-UNSDCF

The primary objective of the GoI-UNSDCF 2023-2027 is to align with the national vision for development and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. The framework is built upon four strategic pillars: People, Prosperity, Planet, and Participation. These pillars are interlinked and represent the key areas of focus for sustainable development.

Outcome Areas and Focus

Within the GoI-UNSDCF, six outcome areas have been identified to guide the efforts towards sustainable development. These areas include Health and Well-being, Nutrition and Food Security, Quality Education, Economic Growth and Decent Work, Environment, Climate, WASH, and Resilience, as well as Empowering People, Communities, and Institutions.

A notable aspect of the GoI-UNSDCF is its specific focus on SDG localization and South-South cooperation. This emphasizes India’s leadership in implementing and accelerating the SDGs within its own territory while championing collaboration and knowledge sharing among developing nations.

Implementation and Monitoring

The formulation of the GoI-UNSDCF was led by NITI Aayog, with active participation from line ministries, state governments, union territories, and the UN development system in India. The implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the framework will be co-led by the Government of India and the United Nations through a Joint Steering Committee. This collaborative approach ensures comprehensive oversight and effective coordination to achieve the desired outcomes.

India’s Vision and Global Impact

Over the next 25 years, India envisions a transformed nation, referred to as ‘Viksit Bharat,’ aligned with the clarion call of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The GoI-UNSDCF plays a crucial role in realizing this vision, ensuring that no one is left behind, and leveraging the potential of India’s vast and diverse demography.

Sustainability is a key focus area for India at G20

 

India is leading the world in transitioning to a low-carbon economy and is well-poised to take forward PM Modi’s LiFE initiative. India’s presidency will share, collaborate, and build on the sense of trusteeship among the member-countries to build a sustainable future for all.

India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022, marked by hope, dreams, and aspirations. The world is facing several challenges, such as Covid-19, the threat of recession, and the climate crisis and is seeking answers to some of these pressing issues. The Indian presidency aims to build upon the efforts and outcomes of earlier presidencies while foraying into newer areas of global cooperation to build a sustainable future for all. As the theme of the presidency — Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One Earth, One Family, One Future) suggests — we are committed to working towards healing our one world, creating harmony within our one family, and giving hope for our one future. India remains one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Even though it supports almost 17% of the world’s population, we have managed growth while tackling the climate crisis. India’s per capita emission of 2.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) is well below the global average of 6.3 tonnes of CO2e in 2020. In the 2022 Climate Change Performance Index, we have been ranked among the top five performing countries.

India is also leading the world in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. We have achieved our commitment to non-fossil fuel capacity addition (made in the Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs) ahead of the target year (2030) and also updated our targets. As per the new NDC, India is committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 45% by 2030 from the 2005 level and achieving about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. With a young population, growing urbanisation, digitalisation and adaptation of technology, and mushrooming of startups, India’s primary focus has been to provide universal access to affordable power in a sustainable manner. We are now a power-surplus nation. We have established an integrated national grid, strengthened the distribution network, emerged as a significant renewable energy (RE) player, and achieved universal household electrification.

India’s energy mix is diversified. Power generation happens through several sources, including coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro and nuclear, to increased the contribution of RE sources (solar, wind and biomass). The government is focused on increasing India’s capacity to produce clean electricity through new technology and innovation.

RE usage is growing faster, with new capacity additions to double by 2026. The share of solar and wind in India’s energy mix has grown phenomenally. The country is also one of the world’s largest producers of bioenergy. Green hydrogen will play a vital role in decarbonising the economy, and the country aims to become a global hub for green hydrogen production and exports. India has emerged as a country with the fastest-growing RE capacity globally. This has also made it the most attractive investment destination. These efforts are helping India meet its own needs while contributing to global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.

The challenge now lies in making energy affordable even as commodity prices are rising, and tight market conditions are increasing energy security risks. While focusing on policy measures and mitigation is important, it is imperative to focus on individuals and communities is imperative to bring about concrete and measurable change. India has demonstrated significant successes in driving development and societal and behavioural changes through large-scale collective action in initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Ujjwala scheme or Give It Up campaign. India is well-poised to take forward the global initiative — Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) – introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. LiFE calls upon individuals and communities to drive and build it as an international mass movement towards mindful and deliberate utilisation, instead of mindless and destructive consumption to protect and preserve the environment. LiFE puts individual and collective duty on everyone to live a life that is in tune with the earth and does not harm it.

As a large developing economy with over 1.4 billion people, India’s climate adaptation and mitigation ambitions are transformational for India and the planet. Moreover, India’s impressive progress in transitioning toward RE shows that countries can succeed by making smart choices about using resources to meet their needs. India’s G20 presidency will share, collaborate, and build on the sense of trusteeship among the member-countries to build a sustainable future for all.

Source: Hindustan Times, 3/02/23

Biggest lesson from Kerala: The developmental agenda should be sustainable

We all know that development comes with a cost, but as such tragedies strike, the poor suffers the most and they seem to pay a higher price.

“Many cities are caught in a ‘perfect storm’ of population growth, escalating adaptation needs and substantial development deficits created by a shortage of human and financial resources, increasing levels of informality, poor governance, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, poverty and growing inequality”, noted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2014. The flood disasters in various parts of India, especially the recent events in Kerala, only reiterate this statement.

The 2018 floods in Kerala have no parallels in the state’s recent history; the last such was in 1924. The intensity of flooding then was probably the same but with a much lower impact. What has changed between 1924 and now? I recount the backdrop of my small village named Thalayolaparambu in central Kerala. Built in 1934, my riverside home was in the middle of a large coconut plantation, bordered all around by canals. The compound was flooded during most monsoons but not our home, built a couple of meters above the ground, probably based on the experience of the 1924 floods. Over the years, the region has been transformed and the numerous canals have been reclaimed, to make approach roads. The 2018 flood inundated the ground floor of most houses in this region, but spared ours.

A narrow strip of land with its highlands transforming to steep slopes, midlands and coastal tracts, Kerala it picturesque, and is a favourite destination for tourists. But this topography is also sensitive to anthropogenic alterations. Construction projects, deforestation and excessive quarrying affect the stability of hilly regions. Madhav Gadgil (former professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore), an expert on Western Ghats ecology, shared his concern recently that “rainfall is the natural trigger, but the severity of outcome is entirely man made”.

Reclaiming of wetlands, conversion of paddy fields and alteration of flood plains are the most widely accepted reasons for flooding, as in the case of the Cochin International Airport, which had to be closed due to water logging. It is ironic that the airport has been awarded with the highest environmental honour ‘Champion of Earth Prize -2018’ by the United Nations, for its operations based on solar power, with panels installed on reclaimed wetlands and former paddy fields. The airport is just about 400 metres from the Periyar river, the longest in the state and with the largest discharge potential. Local people point out how a creek --- Chengal Thodu --- and three irrigation canals were realigned to make space for the runway, which is now flooded. It is not unusual that runways get flooded, and for airports remain closed following intense rains, as it has happened in other airports of India and elsewhere in the world. But what happened at the Cochin airport is an example of a river recapturing its flood plains.

There are other examples: the 2013 Uttarakhand flood, which happened due to a cloudburst, was followed by numerous landslides. The river overflow was caused by the intensity of the rainfall together with the blockages in the river due to debris. There are also numerous urban examples like the 2015 Chennai flood. As with most urban floods, the anthropogenic factors for the Chennai flood far outweigh the natural causes. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India blamed the authorities for the unplanned development by encroachment of lakes and river floodplains. The same is the story with metros like Mumbai and even Bengaluru (geographically better positioned as it is away from the sea and at a higher elevation). Clogged drainages, unplanned underpasses, shrinking wetlands, fading green cover, vanishing lakes and other inherent problems of urbanisation are considered as the culprits.

Source: Hindustan Times, 25/08/2018

Real work on Sustainable Development Goals begins now

Fifteen years ago, leaders of nearly 200 countries agreed on a visionary millennium declaration that laid out in succinct terms the kind of world we want to live in. They created an action agenda — the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — with a set of priorities in areas like reducing child mortality and infectious diseases and increasing access to primary education. The goals included hard targets for improvement and a deadline for measurement. Those targets have helped spur significant progress.

In India, 3.3 million children died before their fifth birthday in 1990. Last year, that number was less than 1.3 million — marking a 61% decline. The percentage of women dying from pregnancy-related causes declined by more than 70% over the same period — faster than the global rate of decline.

This progress is the result of a commitment to funding basic health and other essential services, new and better delivery mechanisms for these services, and more aligned efforts among the governments, private sector, and NGOs.

Last month, global leaders endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the MDGs. As we look ahead, it is important to draw on the lessons of the past 15 years.

To continue the momentum the following actions will be required:

Setting robust national-level targets and plans. Country-level implementation plans, with targets that take into account national priorities, should be established as soon as the SDGs are adopted. In India, an effective national plan along with sub-national plans will be important to address this variation in child mortality rates from state to state.

Establishing reliable funding and delivery models. Over the next few months, every country must identify sources of financing. The Indian healthcare system will not only need to deliver on the unfinished agenda of health and nutrition MDGs, but also be prepared to address the emerging burden of non-communicable diseases, and ensure better financial protection from health shocks.

Identifying and scaling new innovations. Multiple innovations have been made in improving information sharing on child and maternal health, counselling women and caregivers and care of neonates. Innovations in the use of mobile phones, medical devices and indigenous solutions have yielded results and these must be scaled up for maximum impact.

Building effective partnerships. Increasing access to affordable child, maternal, and adolescent health services can be addressed through effective partnerships and innovative health financing models. We know from experience how to create these alliances, which ensure that everyone is pulling from the same end of the rope.

Monitoring and evaluation. Getting the right interventions to the right people at the right time is critical. The National Polio Surveillance Project is an excellent example of how a dedicated, well-funded, high-quality monitoring and surveillance system can enable health transformation. Monitoring and evaluation enables continual adjustments and midcourse corrections to achieve optimal impact.

In the era of the MDGs, India cemented its position as a global economic and political leader. As we make the transition from the MDGs to SDGs, we have another great opportunity to create a world in which all people have the opportunity to survive and thrive.

CK Mishra is additional secretary and mission director, National Health Mission, and Mark Suzman is president, policy, advocacy and country offices, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Source: Hindustan Times, 1-10-15