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