Category: Article

Humanity’s appetite is costing the planet. Globally, the way we produce, transport, distribute, consume and waste food accounts for approximately one-third of annual greenhouse gas emissions, the majority of deforestation and biodiversity loss, and 70% of freshwater withdrawals. With the need to reduce agricultural emissions by 30% in the next six years to keep global warming within safe limits, transforming food systems from carbon source to carbon sink is critical. Recent analysis from the Food and Land Use Coalition highlights that agrifood companies have a pivotal role to play and could mitigate nearly half of global food systems emissions by 2030 by adopting ambitious strategies to implement climate and nature solutions in their supply chains.

Several voluntary frameworks have been developed recently to help private companies integrate environmental considerations into their business strategies and plans. Some of the leading voluntary frameworks focusing on climate mitigation for the food and agriculture sector are: i) the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD); ii) the Science Based Targets Initiatives’ (SBTi) Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) Sector Guidance, published in 2022; and iii) the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol draft ‘Land Sector and Removals Guidance’, first published in 2022 and due for completion in 2024.

Recognizing the private sector’s role in the climate puzzle, governments are increasingly using these frameworks as the basis of new sustainability legislation. Recent regulation such as the EU’s Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) is pushing companies to identify and disclose their emissions sources and engage more directly with farmers to improve the traceability of commodities in their supply chains.

The global increase in mandatory climate and nature frameworks demanding greater levels of supply chain transparency, reporting and disclosure will no doubt have an impact on India’s agricultural landscape. For decades now, India’s forests have not suffered at the hands of agricultural expansion; on the contrary, agricultural areas are shrinking and forest cover is increasing. This would suggest that India is well-placed to export commodities to sustainable markets that have clear requirements on issues such as deforestation. However, to harness this opportunity, business firms that are exporting Indian agricultural commodities will have to invest in strengthening the traceability of their products and scaling sustainable and inclusive production. Such a shift in their business strategies will be rewarding for their bottom line and, as such, should be part of their normal business expansion plans. Through this, India can meet the international demand for sustainably produced commodities while also supporting the country’s ambition to hit agriculture commodity export to $100 billion by 2030.

However, as it stands, India’s relationship with the international agricultural commodities market is constrained by a number of factors, including national trade policy. Despite increasing overall, growth in Indian agri-commodity exports slowed over the last two years. A primary reason for this is the government’s export regulation policy that aims to keep domestic inflation as low as possible. Without concerted planning, this downward trend will likely continue when the demand for Indian commodities increases in EU, UK, and US markets. This will limit business opportunities for Indian agri-commodity exporters, and result in a missed opportunity for farmers to shift to more resource-efficient and sustainable agriculture while gaining from increasing international market demands. Denying farmers such opportunities will likely lead to unrest and raise demands for a higher increase in agricultural incentives.

By collaborating and fostering relationships across the value chain, there is a unique opportunity for businesses, farmers and policymakers to position India at the forefront of a sustainable agricultural transformation. Investment from the private sector can contribute to the Indian government’s long-standing ambition to “double farmers’ income”, in part through increased exports. However, strategic and visionary planning is required to capitalize on this situation and avoid unrest, unlocking a win-win scenario for the economy, farmers, general public, and private sector. Diversifying agriculture, increasing productivity, adopting geo-spatial technology-assisted planning for ensuring critical masses of production of selected commodities to feed to the international supply chains, and strengthening relationships between FPOs and the private sector are some of the many ways to address the situation. What is most important is a clear long-term plan with a vision that is developed jointly by farmers, the private sector, and national and sub-national governments. Without such a concerted exercise, the Indian agri-commodity market will be looking at a critical missed opportunity.

Authors: K M Jayahari, Country Coordinator, FOLU India; and Alex Andreoli, Associate

As published on Hindu Business Line, 12^th May 2024 – Also read here

The zones can be seen as a low-hanging fruit with clear benefits for farmers too.

Recent regulations such as the EU’s Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) require companies to identify and disclose their emissions sources and engage more directly with farmers to improve the traceability of commodities in their supply chains. The global increase in mandatory climate and nature frameworks demanding greater levels of supply chain transparency, reporting and disclosure will no doubt have an impact on India’s agricultural landscape.

For decades now India’s forests have not suffered at the cost of agricultural expansion; on the contrary, agricultural areas are shrinking and forest cover is increasing, albeit without direct linkage. This suggests that India is well-placed to export commodities to markets that have clear policies on issues such as deforestation.

For better climate adaptation

To leverage this opportunity, business firms exporting agriculture commodities from India must invest in strengthening the infrastructure to enable better source tracing of their products and supporting sustainable and inclusive production. An analysis carried out by the Food and Land Use Coalition identifies six major land-based interventions that would result in better climate adaptation, and an increase in farmers’ benefits in which the private sector should invest as part of making their sourcing more sustainable. These interventions bear both mitigation and adaptation benefits. This shift in the business strategies will be certainly rewarding for their bottom line and so should be part of their normal business expansion plans.

Further, India aims to hit agriculture commodity exports to $100 billion by 2030. This ambition is set when there is already a slight reduction in the growth rate of agri-exports in FY 2023-24, mainly due to the continuous ban on rice and wheat exports. This illustrates the fact that Indian export policies are still oriented around managing food-linked inflation rather than increasing the export revenue or ensuring that farmers are benefiting from the international market trends. This makes India an unreliable food supplier to the international market.

In this context, can Special Agricultural Economic Zones (SAEZ) become one of the solutions? Affordable investment in technology creation, implementing infrastructure solutions for documenting the sourcing, and financial solutions that make production more remunerative for the farmers, will ultimately provide a win-win situation for all stakeholders. Compared to managing the agricultural export policy environment which is one of the hurdles in the private sector investing in ESG frameworks, SAEZs can be seen as a low-hanging fruit with clear benefits for the farmers too.

Look at PMKSY

These zones can be exclusive areas where the private sector can invest towards sustainable and regenerative agricultural production, targeting the international market, with a policy assurance to exclude the production in these areas from any export-related prohibitory mechanisms by the government. Many of the 112 aspirational districts would qualify for such SAEZs – where the newly revived agricultural economy can help to improve livelihoods, reduce migration, and support the overall sustainable development of the area. With an intent to optimise existing schemes towards the success of novel initiatives, one can look at the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY). This umbrella scheme encompasses various facets of food production and processing, including creation of forward and backward linkages, and food safety and quality, that may be integrated with SAEZs operational policies. Another approach can be to consider the existing 60 Agri Export Zones under APEDA, which currently cover 40 agri commodities. For the willing, experiences lie across international borders that may be borrowed – in countries like Malaysia similar special zones are being promoted under the National Agrofood Policy.

While operationalising SAEZs requires formalising special norms and regulations with a focus on exemptions from taxes and export related regulatory mechanisms, most importantly, it will provide the stability that India needs to be seen as a reliable exporter internationally. At the same time, they can contribute to the Indian government’s long-standing ambition to ‘double farmers’ income’.

Author: K M Jayahari, Food and Land Use Coalition India Country Coordinator

Sweeping narratives that provide an umbrella explanation for complex phenomena are always appealing, and farming and food in India offer a rich canvas for such tales. For decades, mainstream narratives framed the Green Revolution as the ‘saviour’ of Indian agriculture, transforming ‘underdeveloped’ farming methods through the introduction of ‘miracle seeds’ and modern technologies. The reality was far more nuanced.  Post-independence policies, such as land reforms and increased investments in agriculture, contributed to rural development. They set the stage for the Green Revolution, whose benefits and adverse impacts varied greatly across geographies and communities. Decades later, millets are headlining a similar narrative, and enjoying a resurgence as superfoods that can fix multiple problems, from malnutrition and rural poverty to the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. They are being promoted as ‘sattvic’ foods and tools for women’s empowerment. But are these claims true?

This article aims to offer a more nuanced take, balancing these statements with humbler tales that depict the daily challenges and experiences of people who cultivated and ate millets. These tales describe what millets meant to these communities, why they transitioned away from them, and whether they can benefit from the millet revival.

Tales of scarcity and resilience

 In their village on the banks of the Sarayan river in central Uttar Pradesh (UP), North India, an elderly woman and her husband had conserved a unique variety of kodo (kodo millet, or Paspalum Scrobiculatum). They continued cultivating and harvesting this grain, even though other villagers considered them eccentric for following ‘outdated’ practices. I first met her in 2018, when I was accompanying farmer activists on a field visit. She quietly shared kodo millet seeds and rice, which she had hand-pounded herself, with us.

Millets, the resilient grains that had nearly vanished before being rediscovered, are inextricably linked to marginalized communities and forgotten traditions. They represent the ancient farming practices that were swept out of view by the Green Revolution. They also shine a mirror to the toil, tedium and oppression of the times when peasant communities were unable to exercise their rights.

About 2,000 km south of Shyamkishori, Dalit women in southern Karnataka share stories of their hard labour in the fields. Kadiramma described getting ragi mudde (balls of cooked finger millet flour) at the end of the workday. Ragi was their mainstay; they even picked out fallen grains from the fields after the harvest. After painstakingly cleaning the gleaned ragi, they had to give half of it back to the landlords. The pain and anger of those times were still carried in their voices more than 30 years on. “We worked from morning till night, and we women did the same heavy work in the fields as the men, but we were paid just enough to survive.”

Staving off hunger was a constant challenge for peasants and labourers from Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi (DBA) communities, or the lower castes, who represented the oppressed at the bottom of rural hierarchies. The women of these communities learned to be extra-resourceful to feed their families. Alongside men, they cultivated multiple crops, including several types of millets, on their sandy, rocky and often undulating lands. These were the landscapes they had access to, as the fertile tracts were controlled by farmers from powerful castes. The produce from these fields was not sufficient to meet their needs.

DBA communities had knowledge of local ecosystems that allowed them to identify edible plants and animals, which they used in unique recipes that are rare to find in popular cookbooks. They also adapted and innovated. While rich and middle-income families roasted chana (Bengal gram) and jau (barley) to make sattu (malt) in the Gangetic plains, poorer families roasted cheaper grains. Today, nutritious foods like browntop millet are attractive to urban consumers, but in the past, they were foraged by DBA communities to stave off hunger.

Despite their resourcefulness, these communities often ran out of food grains in the lean seasons and had to go hungry or borrow money at usurious rates. This would leave them in a debt trap, whereby they would have to forfeit their harvest or work as bonded labourers in the lender’s fields to pay off their loans. Sadly, this state of affairs persists in some regions even today.

Tales of transformation and aspirations

“We hulled and cleaned the paddy rice from the big farmers’ fields. But rice was for them, not for us,” remembered Venkatamma, in southern Karnataka. “I loved the sweet taste of rice. The ladies of the house monitored us closely to ensure that we did not make off with any, but I would pop some into my mouth when they weren’t looking. Sometimes, they gave us some rave (grits) to take home. How tasty our meals were in those days!”

Multiple routes contributed to improvements in the lives of DBA communities. Some received land titles in the 1970s and 1980s during the government’s poverty elimination campaign, while others gained land due to campaigns organized by Dalit, Adivasi, or Left-allied groups. Increased mobility led to migration and higher wages, which also drove up wages back home. People’s Movements campaigned for access to housing, education, nutrition and food security and livelihoods for marginalized communities, and successful campaigns led to improved quality of life.

As incomes rose, DBA households could now afford the foods of the rich—wheat and rice. The grains that they aspired to, which were only consumed on festivals and special occasions, were now accessible due to the Green Revolution. With the expansion of the Public Distribution System (PDS), wheat and rice were supplied at subsidized rates or even free of charge, resulting in a sharp drop in the consumption of millets from the 1970s onward. Even pulses were abandoned. These were cultivated alongside millets, but there was little place for them in the monocropped rice paddies and wheat fields. The diverse diets of DBA communities shrank to rice- and wheat-heavy meals deficient in protein and micronutrients. However, they could now eat to their hearts’ content and weren’t left hungry.

Grain processing was another critical factor in shifting communities away from millets. Rice mills had begun to be set up in the late 19th century and, with government support, proliferated in the 1960s and 1970s. Meanwhile, millets, the grains designated as ‘coarse’ even by scientists, were ignored. In the absence of processing technology, these grains were processed mainly by hand until the 1990s and 2000s, when renewed interest led to the development of machines specifically for them. Women describe a range of traditional techniques used to dehusk barnyard, foxtail, little, kodo, and browntop millets, all of which required skill and patience. They welcomed the arrival of processed white rice and atta (wheat flour). However, the new grains were less nutritious than their traditional variants and were further stripped of their bran, which contains fiber and micronutrients. The bran was monetized, with rice bran sold for oil and wheat bran as an additive to fodder. This allowed rice and wheat to be sold at an affordable price, and nutrition loss became a secondary concern to consumers.

Thus, the aspirations of DBA communities, and even more prosperous ones, were met by policy and technology. Millets, associated with an oppressive and laborious past, were abandoned, and their near-disappearance was largely welcomed.

Tales of the millet revival

While most farming communities abandoned millets in the decades following the 1970s, some continued cultivating them, and teaching grassroots organizations and activist how to do so. With these insights, NGOs, activists and a handful of academics spearheaded a revival of millets in several parts of the Deccan (south India) and central India, with communities encouraged to cultivate them for their nutritional and ecological benefits.

However, it is the growing popularity of millets among urban elite consumers that has catapulted them to the spotlight. Several popular YouTube channels extol the benefits of these ‘miracle grains’. Food stores in cities and even small towns now stock millet biscuits, vermicelli, and various types of mixes. These products are more expensive than those made from wheat or rice, but consumers are told that the health benefits justify the price difference. Unfortunately, most of these products are made from processed millets and offer only a slight nutritional advantage.

Millets in whole grain form are nutritious, but many of the claims made about them are often exaggerated. For example,  many urban consumers and even poor rural families now believe that millets are rich in protein. But just like other cereal grains, millets are not an optimal source of protein. In the past, they were consumed together with protein-rich foods like pulses, meat, buttermilk, oilseeds and fish. Now, millet preparations are often consumed with just vegetables, which does not offer the complete range of nutrients required for a healthy diet. Yet the buzz around millets continues to reverberate, with new government schemes, products and marketing campaigns being launched regularly.

Cautionary tales

Women from DBA communities face the double burden of caste and gender. They carry out most or all of the domestic work in their households in addition to their income-generating activities, which they rarely earn a living wage for. Only a small percentage of women own land. With high levels of migration among men, they are often left to manage the household, livestock and land with little support. Alongside this, they continue to face untouchability practices, even in new structures.

“Whenever our Federation organizes an event, they (dominant caste women) take over the cooking. If you cook, who will eat? That is what they say,” remarked members of a Dalit SHG (Self Help Group).” Until last year, we couldn’t even get a bank loan. All loans went to the other groups.”

SHGs, groups of 15-20 poor women who collectively save and access microcredit, are often cited as the best pathway out of poverty for these women. Through linkages with banks and government programmes, SHG members have accessed loans to buy animals or take up income-generating activities that have enabled them to overcome the barriers to credit they faced as individuals. However, it should be noted that SHGs made up of less poor women (with caste advantages and access to resources) are more likely to succeed in income-generating activities. Most SHGs have instead become a medium to access loans for health, education, and farming-related expenses, and thus fill the gaps left by poorly functioning welfare programmes and insensitive financial institutions.

Grassroots organizations have seized the opportunities generated through SHG-bank linkages to set up millet enterprises, and many have focused their efforts on rural women. These enterprises have the potential to provide economic and nutritional benefits and create long-term rural assets. However, many schemes to alleviate poverty and malnutrition have fallen short because they have neglected systemic issues such as caste discrimination and historical inequities. Further, most millet enterprises are focused on the urban market, which is a risky strategy as urban consumers lack the cultural connection with millets of their rural counterparts and can quickly move on to newer fads. The reintroduction of millets into rural diets is a complex process with uncertain results, but it must be taken up to achieve substantial and long-term improvements in diets and incomes.

Conclusion

Traditional millet-cultivating communities, which are overwhelmingly Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi, have had a long and chequered history with millets. This is reflected in the stories told by women from these communities, which reveal the pleasure, trauma, resilience, and innovation associated with cultivating, processing, cooking and consuming these ancient grains. The current popularity of millets presents a golden opportunity to support these women and help them receive some of the benefits from this resurgence. This support should be all-encompassing and intersectional, enduring and adaptable to local issues and ensuring a sustained and responsive approach. We must use this time, when millets are in the spotlight, to share these hidden stories and build structures that truly promote the empowerment of rural women and men. Only then will we honour the sweat, toil and resilience of Kadiramma, Shyamkishori and their sisters.

By Sudha Nagavarapu, Researcher and activist, in collaboration with Native Picture and FOLU India

Photo credit: All rights reserved,  Native Picture and FOLU India

This is the third entry in a collection of field commentaries by FOLU India. 

Uttarakhand, nestled in the eastern-most part of the western Himalayas is endowed with climatic variation and high rainfall. Enriching it with a sumptuous diversity of flora and fauna. Traditionally, the local farmers have grown diverse crops such as coarse cereals (minor millets-finger millet, barnyard millet, foxtail millet, little millet, proso millet), grains like rice, wheat, barley, pulses (such as horse gram, black gram, black seeded local soybean, lentil, cowpea, rice bean), oilseeds (mustard, sesame). Several underutilised crops like amaranth, buckwheat, tubers, yams, cucurbits, minor leafy vegetables, perilla and numerous medicinal herbs are also grown here.

This mix of grains, green leafy vegetables, fruits and seeds, enrich the diet with calcium, iron and many more micro-nutrients which are otherwise missing in a regular urban diet. A group of these hardy cereals are even referred to as ‘nutri-cereals’. Many of these are abundantly found in the forests of the state. However, a lack of awareness around them has limited the farming community from reaping the benefits of these crops.   

Project SAHELEE (Striving for Advancement in Health and Improved Quality of Life through Entrepreneurship and Education) in Uttarakhand, as part of Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) efforts in India, is an initiative to promote the production and consumption of traditional grains by local communities of Mukteshwar. 

Steeped in the local culinary culture and ingredients, project SAHELEE and FOLU India endeavour to build nutrition security for the local population, as well as promote the cultivation of hardy crops rich in nutrients. It has been noted that some food groups outrank others with their nutritional benefits. Therefore, one of the objectives of SAHELEE is to create awareness within communities on planting and procuring food crops that are the healthiest. For instance, we would like them to choose amaranth seeds over other grains, ragi over rice, carrots over potatoes, and inexpensive berries to boost the nutrient content of their food basket. This is an important adaptation measure in the face of climate change, as these crops require low resource input for cultivation and can bear rough weather conditions.

By increasing community awareness about the nutritional value of these food items and their direct impact on improved health, we aim to increase the demand for healthier and sustainable food products. As part of this initiative, field teams led by TERI, a FOLU India core partner, are in the process of developing new and exciting nutritious food products. These include ragi granola bars which incorporate local tastes and flavours for effortless local acceptability in their diets. This would help to expand the range of healthier choices available within the local population.

Each of these products are to go through a rigorous process of lab testing and food safety certifications before being cleared for local manufacturing. The next step would be to enable women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the area to develop these products. SHG members would be trained on the nutritional value of the ingredients, the process for creating each of the identified food items, and packaging them.

To create long-term impact, we will work closely with women farmers and SHGs to develop products that are processed at scale and marketed locally to boost the incomes of the farming community even during the non-farming season. They will be trained to use solar energy for production techniques, thereby negating any possible adverse impacts on local air quality and reducing the carbon footprint of their finished products.

One of the goals of SAHELEE is also to mainstream the intake of these fortified products through the school feeding programme. Given that one out of two children is anaemic and one in five is undernourished, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) report of Uttarakhand, the incorporation of these local superfoods can help address the nutritional adversity of the state’s young population. 

This would also provide a market entry point for women entrepreneurs associated with the activity. In the long run, the project will enable gender mainstreaming by placing women in job roles beyond the traditional on-farm cultivating ones, usually taken up by women.

Photo credit: Vidhu Gupta

Authors: Meena Sehgal, Fmr Senior Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Vidhu Gupta, Fmr Associate Fellow, TERI. TERI is a FOLU India core partner

To know more about FOLU India’s efforts to promote resilient & healthy diets, read the full compilation of field commentaries here.