Food (nutrition) is the backbone of all life - and humans are no exception! The very first step in our march towards civilization was the adoption of cultivation of food crops on permanent homesteads and farms. So, agriculture is the foundation of human society as we know it. After over 10,000 years of agriculture one would imagine that we'd be more than self-sufficient in food production a.k.a. agriculture. But sad to say, that just ain't the case!
India is primarily and traditionally an agrarian economy - yet its teeming millions suffer from food and nutritional deprivation on a massive scale. The government has done all it can to remedy the situation but all its efforts are barely coming up to the barest minimum of expectations. This is truly sad - and well-nigh disastrous economically and socially. How's that so? Well, the government has initiated massive projects to boost agricultural production - and massive projects require massive infrastructure - and massive infrastructure requires massive investment. The gigantic scale of these projects is proving counter-productive - more effort and attention goes into managing the logistics of these projects and the interests of the farmer - the most critical component of any agriculture-related beneficiation programme - is almost completely ignored. One of the most recent government sponsored programmes is the current "Inclusive Development" programme which intends to "include" the rural population in the agricultural beneficiation programme. Only time will tell how successful this policy will turn out.
Better than that, why not go with the "small is beautiful" model of economic development as touted by Schumacher?
I have been all over the rural countryside of the major states of India and have got a "worm's eye view" of the world. I have spoken to villagers and they have given me a great deal of food - for thought, that is!
Bhola lives in a small village of Rajasthan, on the outskirts of the Thar, the great Indian desert. Once a self-sufficient farmer with a 4-bigha spread, continuous dry spells, soil and water salination, and lack of marketing support have all contributed to his downfall. He is a share-cropper now, working on the very same fields he once owned. Four months out of twelve he is occupied with tilling, ploughing, sowing, and watering the fields. For the rest of the year he ekes out a meagre existence tending goats and sheep for his fellow villagers. Odd jobs, working as a labourer on construction projects in the nearby towns, help him to keep his family of five alive. The recently initiated government-sponsored guaranteed employment project for the rural poor helps a lot.
Bhola says: "Yes, there are a lot of schemes and programmes aimed at helping us to improve our condition as farmers. Unfortunately, we don't seem to actually receive or achieve the benefits of the programme. There is just a flurry of activity when the programme begins. Then there is a gradual slowdown of activity until it comes to a fullstop. The farmer is left high and dry wondering what to do next. The programme executives are non-responsive because they have been reassigned to other jobs - like election duties, health projects, educational projects, and so on."
Bhola's cousin adds: "The main problem is that the project functionaries are not local, and worse still, they are not "farmers". They are little more than clerical staff with some training for the particular project they are assigned to. They lack motivation for the project; which is understandable since they have no stake in the project."
India is primarily and traditionally an agrarian economy - yet its teeming millions suffer from food and nutritional deprivation on a massive scale. The government has done all it can to remedy the situation but all its efforts are barely coming up to the barest minimum of expectations. This is truly sad - and well-nigh disastrous economically and socially. How's that so? Well, the government has initiated massive projects to boost agricultural production - and massive projects require massive infrastructure - and massive infrastructure requires massive investment. The gigantic scale of these projects is proving counter-productive - more effort and attention goes into managing the logistics of these projects and the interests of the farmer - the most critical component of any agriculture-related beneficiation programme - is almost completely ignored. One of the most recent government sponsored programmes is the current "Inclusive Development" programme which intends to "include" the rural population in the agricultural beneficiation programme. Only time will tell how successful this policy will turn out.
Better than that, why not go with the "small is beautiful" model of economic development as touted by Schumacher?
I have been all over the rural countryside of the major states of India and have got a "worm's eye view" of the world. I have spoken to villagers and they have given me a great deal of food - for thought, that is!
Bhola lives in a small village of Rajasthan, on the outskirts of the Thar, the great Indian desert. Once a self-sufficient farmer with a 4-bigha spread, continuous dry spells, soil and water salination, and lack of marketing support have all contributed to his downfall. He is a share-cropper now, working on the very same fields he once owned. Four months out of twelve he is occupied with tilling, ploughing, sowing, and watering the fields. For the rest of the year he ekes out a meagre existence tending goats and sheep for his fellow villagers. Odd jobs, working as a labourer on construction projects in the nearby towns, help him to keep his family of five alive. The recently initiated government-sponsored guaranteed employment project for the rural poor helps a lot.Bhola says: "Yes, there are a lot of schemes and programmes aimed at helping us to improve our condition as farmers. Unfortunately, we don't seem to actually receive or achieve the benefits of the programme. There is just a flurry of activity when the programme begins. Then there is a gradual slowdown of activity until it comes to a fullstop. The farmer is left high and dry wondering what to do next. The programme executives are non-responsive because they have been reassigned to other jobs - like election duties, health projects, educational projects, and so on."
Bhola's cousin adds: "The main problem is that the project functionaries are not local, and worse still, they are not "farmers". They are little more than clerical staff with some training for the particular project they are assigned to. They lack motivation for the project; which is understandable since they have no stake in the project."
The villagers grant the fact that the programmes are well-intentioned and even the functionaries who interact with them are considerate and well-meaning. But just being well-intentioned is not sufficient. The projects must be well-executed for them to actually turn the graph of agricultural productivity upwards.
What is required is - education. The rural population must realise that "God helps those who help themselves". Formation of self-help groups is the only way out of the bind the Indian farmer finds himself in. Further, the SHGs must make themselves self-sustaining - conversion from SHGs to SSGs - and this can only happen if they are self-reliant. Depending on external agencies is like expecting a deus ex machina to appear out of the blue to save them from disaster.
I have a plan to make the Indian farmer self-reliant. But this requires a lot of investment in terms of time, effort and money. Once this model is field-proven I am sure it can benefit farmers in all the underdeveloped and undeveloped nations of the world.
Any takers?
