Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Q. What interventions do you think are needed to increase the agriculture sector resilience to environmental stressors, especially among smallholder farmers?

Low or middle income countries are highly suffering from various environmental hazards impacting to almost all the people of the country. But, especially the smallholder farmers known as small farmers who are living in a poor condition even in the form of tenants are vulnerable. They have to suffer from different environmental threats like untimely and torrential rain, drought, flood, landslides, avalanches, earthquake, and epidemics etc. They are lacking of food to meet their hunger every day. Consequently, the under 5 children and the lactating and pregnant mothers will highly be affected due to deficiencies of nutrients resulting to malnutrition. Further it will be more serious in the case of under two children who could be retarded physically as well as mentally. Thus the environmental hazards are suppressing to the countries towards low level of food and nutrition security.

Considering the scenario of agriculture sector resilience to environmental stress some remedies is recommended focusing to the small farmers as follows:

1. Orientation about the improved farming techniques depending upon the food crop that they are cultivating. Use of compost, as one of the techniques, especially the vermin compost is highly recommended for organic farming that is more lucrative and nutritious with high demand in the market.
2. Facilitation and orientation to promote production and consumption of indigenous foods depending upon the soil and climatic condition of the locality.
3. Provided the inputs like seeds, medicines, and other machineries for farming.
4. Prefer to intensive farming rather than extensive to get better productions from limited area of the land.
5. Prefer to use traditional tools / weapons in sloping area to save the land from sweeping way and landslides in sloping area. 
6. Increase awareness of crop diversification with potentialities.
7. Apply the policy of early warning system of disasters and natural calamities to the farmers.
8. Prefer to other types of farming like livestock and birds raising, aquaculture, cash crops like cardamom, ginger and tea plantation.
9. Provision of rented in of barren land to the small land holders should they want to cultivate on it.
10.  Introduce the livelihood programs for the farmers to reduce dependency from farming occupation.