LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
New Delhi
10 February 2006
| MAJOR GROUP REPRESENTATIVES IN ATTENDANCE | ||
| Farmers | Name and Title | Dr Sarala Gopalan Secretary General, National Institute of Agriculture |
| Address | 2 Yashwant Place, Chanakyapuri New Delhi 110 021 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2615 1065, 2619 0772 | |
| Mobile | (91) 9810105539 | |
| Fax | (91 11) 2688 2467/5466 | |
| [email protected] or [email protected] | ||
| NGO’s | Name | Prabha Mahale IFOAM World Board Member |
| Address | 10, 26 Main, Balaji Layout Kaggdasapura C.V. Ramannagar Post Bangalore 560093 | |
| Telephone | (91 80) 2534 7039 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | ||
| [email protected] | ||
| NGO’s | Name and Title | Evelyn Daniel Executive Director, Institute for Integrated Rural Development (IIRD) |
| Address | P.Box 562, Kanchan Nagar, Nakshatrawadi, Aurangabad 431002 Maharashtra State, India | |
| Telephone | (91 240) 237 6828/6336 | |
| Fax | (91 240) 237 6866 | |
| Mobile | ||
| [email protected] | ||
| Indigenous People | Name and Title | Dr. Prasanta Tripathy Secretary, EKJUT |
| Address | At-Chakyadharpur Dt-West Singbhum 833102 Jharkand | |
| Telephone | (91 65) 8723 9625 | |
| Mobile | (91) 9431153434 | |
| Fax | ||
| [email protected] | ||
| Science and Technology | Name and Title | Dr. V. P. Singh Regional Representative for South Asia, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) |
| Address | International Centre for Research in Agroforestry 1st Floor, CG Block National Agriculture Science Centre Complex Dev Parkash Shastri Marg, Pusa Campus New Delhi-110012 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2580 3800, 2584 7885, 2584 7886 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | (91 11) 2584 7884 | |
| [email protected] | ||
| Women | Name | Jill Carr-Harris |
| Title | Executive Director, LEAD India and Member WOCAN | |
| Address | B-10, Ist Floor Greater Kailash, Enclave Part-II New Delhi 110 048 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2921 5479, 2922 5474, 2922 5512 | |
| Mobile | (91) 9810030898 | |
| Fax | (91 11) 2922 5791 | |
| [email protected] | ||
| OTHER PERSONS IN ATTENDANCE | ||
| Sustainet (GTZ) | Name and Title | Felix Knyphausen Intern, Sustainet - G.T.Z. |
| Address | Projektsekretariat Sustainet Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH Abteilung 4500 Agrarwirtschaft, Fischerei und Ernährung Postfach 5180, D-65726 Eschborn | |
| Telephone | ||
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | ||
| [email protected] | ||
| Sustainet (GTZ) | Name and Title | Daniel Bhasker Manager, Sustainet - G.T.Z |
| Address | 21, Jor Bagh New Delhi, 110003 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2460 3832 | |
| Mobile | (91) 9444440947 | |
| Fax | (91 11) 2460 3831 | |
| [email protected] | ||
| TERI | Name and Title | Preety M. Bhandari Director, Policy Analysis Division The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) |
| Address | Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex, Lodi Road New Delhi 110 003 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2468 2100, 5190 4900 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | (91 11) 2468 2144, 2468 2145 | |
| [email protected] | ||
| TERI | Name and Title | Shirish Garud, Fellow Renewable Energy Technology Applications The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) |
| Address | Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex, Lodi Road New Delhi 110 003 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2468 2100, 5190 4900 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | (91 11) 2468 2144, 2468 2145 | |
| [email protected] | ||
| ISD | Name and Title | Gitesh Sinha and Mohita Modgill, Fellows Institute for Sustainable Development |
| Address | A-130, Sector 55, NOIDA-201301, UP | |
| Telephone | (95 120) 258 6333 | |
| Fax | (95 120) 258 6333 | |
| Mobile | 9868321638, 9818383200 (Dr. T. Haque) | |
| [email protected]; [email protected] | ||
| FAO | Name and Title | Gopi N. Ghosh Assistant FAO Representative & Resource Person, Food & Nutrition Security |
| Address | 55 Lodi Estate, Max Muller Marg New Delhi 110 003 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2462 8877 Ext. 208, 2469 3060 | |
| Mobile | (91) 9810603671 | |
| Fax | (91 11) 2462 0115 | |
| [email protected] or www.solutionexchangeun.net.in | ||
| FAO | Name and Title | Bidisha Pillai Research Associate, Food & Nutrition Security Community (Solution Exchange), FAO |
| Address | 55 Lodi Estate, Max Muller Marg New Delhi 110 003 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2462 8877, 2469 3060 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | (91 11) 2462 0115 | |
| UNDP | Name and Title | Ramya Gopolan Research Associate, Environment Communities (Solution Exchange), UNDP |
| Address | 55 Lodi Estate, Max Muller Marg New Delhi 110 003 | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 2462 8677 x326 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | (91 11) 2462 7612 | |
| [email protected] | ||
| SEI | Name | Barbara Huddleston |
| Title | Senior Food Security & Sustainable Development Expert (FAO retired) | |
| Address | FAO/TCOS, Rm. F723 viale di Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy | |
| Telephone | (39 06) 5705 3052 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | ||
| [email protected]; [email protected] | ||
| SEI | Name | Goran Nilsson Axberg |
| Title | Senior Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute | |
| Address | Lilla Nygatan 1, Box 2142 S-103 14 Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Telephone | (46 8) 412 1400 | |
| Mobile | (46) 707706251 | |
| Fax | (46 8) 723 0348 | |
| [email protected] [email protected] | ||
| INVITATIONS EXTENDED | ||
| Business & Industry | Name | Ashok Ummat (Regrets) |
| Title | Executive Director, ICC India | |
| Federation House, Tansen Marg New Delhi 110 001 | ||
| Telephone | (91 11) 2373 8760-70 (ext 210) / 2332 2472 | |
| Fax | (91 11) 2332 0714, 2372 1504 | |
| Mobile | ||
| [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] | ||
| Business & Industry | Name | K.P. Nyati (Regrets) |
| Title | Head of Environment Management Division, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Focal Point, World Business Council for Sustainable Development | |
| Address | India Habitat Centre 4th Floor, Zone IV, Lodi Road 110 003 New Delhi, India | |
| Telephone | (91 11) 464 5228 | |
| Fax | (91 11) 460 2524 | |
| Mobile | ||
| [email protected] | ||
| Indigenous People | Name | Syed Liyakhat (Regrets) |
| Title | Equations | |
| 23–25 8th Cross Vignan Nagar New Thippasandra P O Bangalore 560 075 | ||
| Telephone | (91 80) 2524 4988 | |
| Mobile | ||
| Fax | ||
| [email protected] | ||
| Workers | Name | No nomination received |
| Youth | Name | No nomination received |
Convenors:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
10 February 2006
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Committee Room No. 1,
India International Centre, 40 Lodi Estate, Max Muller Marg, Delhi
| 9:30 | Coffee |
| 10:30 | SARD Issues and Responses in India: Collection of Stakeholder Views |
| 1. | What are the issues? |
| 2. | Who is doing what? |
| 11 :45 | Welcome, Introductions, Purpose of the Workshop |
| Barbara Huddleston, Senior Food Security and Sustainable Development Expert, SEI (FAO, retired) | |
| 11 :50 | The SARD Initiative: From Rio to Johannesburg and beyond |
| Barbara Huddleston | |
| 12:10 | The GTZ Sustainet Project |
| Felix Knyphausen, Project Secretariat | |
| 12:30 | The UN Country Team Solution Exchange on Food and Nutrition Security |
| Gopi N. Ghosh, Assistant FAO Representative & Resource Person, Food & Nutrition Security | |
| 1:00 | Lunch |
| 2:00 | Mainstreaming SARD in the Eleventh NDP: a Planner's Perspective |
| Goran Nilsson Axerg, Senior Research Fellow, SEI | |
| 2:30 | SARD Issues and Responses in India: Collection of Stakeholder Views |
| 3. | What still needs doing? |
| 3:00 | Implementing the SARD Initiative in India: General Discussion |
| 1. | Is there added value to developing a multi-stakeholder initiative to promote Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in India? |
| 2. | If no, what existing mechanism(s) should be used to promote actions that need additional support? to formulate a civil society contribution to the CSD debates on SARD in 2008 and 2009? |
| 3. | If yes, what should be the organizational setup, what should be the thematic and geographic priorities, and who should take the lead? |
| 4:45 | Follow-up Arrangements and Closing of the Workshop |
| Barbara Huddleston |
Access to Resources, Services and Markets
| Issue | Major groups mentioning the issue | Nature of problem | Ongoing responses | Additional actions needed |
| Access to agricultural inputs | Farmers | Quality seeds to assure good yields and good quality products are scarce. | Agriculture research has to concentrate on quality seeds and its availability to farmers. Adequate credit should be provided for purchase of proven seeds. | |
| Traditional methods preserving and regenerating seeds are being tampered with. | Traditional methods of "good" seed collection and their preservation to be encouraged. | |||
| Precarious status of GM seeds is concerning. We do not know the effects and could lose control. | Only properly researched/proven GM seeds should be released to farmers. | |||
| Science and technology | Timely inputs to agriculture often not available | Sound/appropriate credit policies and institutions in place to facilitate easy credit (see below). | ||
| UN | Quality and timely input supply. | Input supply cooperatives. | ||
| Access to credit | Farmers | Credit is available mainly from private banks at very high rates. Despite government proclamations, it is difficult for farmers to get credit from banks. Even where bank credit is available, interest rates are higher for agricultural loans than for other purposes. Farmers are often drawn into heavy indebtedness and cannot escape. | Government proclamations (un-enforced) | Strong cooperativebanks Stricter monitoring of bank credit--and its availability to farmers. |
| Donors | Lack of resources, e.g. capital | In some places NGOs and international initiatives are supporting credit scheme programmes, with varying success. | ||
| Access to forest resources | Women | Women do not have access to forest resources. Many are collectors of non-traditional forest products (NTFPs), but they are being barred from legal entry in national forests.. | Thousands of NGOs and people's organisations are working to strengthen the linkages between forest-dependent persons and forest areas. Government is trying to strengthen earlier Joint Forest Management through community-based forestry in MP and other States. | |
| Access to information | Indigenous people | Absence of systematic and disaggregated measurement of "marginalisation" (e.g. malnutrition among children) is hampering targeting | Emergence of IT (and slow but steady bridging of digital divide) is helping disaggregated data analysisEmergence of local newspapers is helping to raise awareness of local issues | Space and recognition needs to be given to NGOs by a democratic government |
| Science and technology | Information about markets and prices is not adequately known, and therefore has little impact on choice of crops and farm income. | Rural connectivity and the role of ICT are high on the national policy agenda and are being actively pursued. ITC, a private company, has launched an online network for this very purpose. | These limited initiatives--both from content and geographical perspectives--have a scope for making a tremendous change. | |
| Donors | Underdeveloped private sector, e.g. extension system, provision of information | In some places NGOs are trying to fill this gap, with varying success. In other places the government, mostly local, provides certain services | The problem here is that the government-sponsored services are often inefficient and costly and NGOs often lack the necessary expertise. | |
| UN | Market information | Good market information can do a lot in improving farmers' incomes. | ||
| Access to land | NGOs | Land rights of indigenous and tribal communities | Karnataka: NGOs working on it. | |
| Use of common lands | Karnataka: IDS/SPS | |||
| Smallholdings and land rights | ||||
| Inferior status of women | Gender sensitivity trainingGroup forming | |||
| Women | Women do not have land rights. This results in their exclusion from decision-making. Women of Spirit (WOS) collectives are not recognised as farmers. Often divorced women and widows cannot gain access to land at all. Government has been giving land to private entities, often overriding the land policies/laws. | From 1950–1979, political parties plus government dealt with land rights. Today, many movements, NGOs and CS groups, particularly WOS land groups, are involved in gaining land rights for women in many parts of the country. Government is becoming more open to land issues, especially where WOS.groups can mobilise local communities into collective/ cooperative arrangements or settlements in general. | ||
| Donors | Lack of resources, e.g. land | NGOs and international initiatives are involved in resource management. | ||
| UN | Land reform policies provide some land to the poor through redistribution of the surplus land. | |||
| Access to markets | NGOs | Certification of organic farming may discriminate against non-commercial small scale farmers. Organic may be hijacked by commercial interests.Ambiguous use of the term organic. | Fairtrade National and international certification standards need to cover principles of social justice. | |
| Donors | Lack of processing and marketing services in many areas | In some places NGOs are trying to fill this gap, with varying success. | NGOs often lacked the expertise to provide marketing services effectively. | |
| Access to water | Farmers | 70% of agriculture in India depends on the monsoons, both for rain-fed agriculture and for recharging groundwater sources for irrigation. Groundwater exploitation is excessive. Drought has become common and in some parts desertification is spreading. | Watershed management and recharging of aquifers | Water harvesting is being talked about, needs to become a way oflife. More investment in irrigation and water management |
| NGOs | Rajastan: Water users groups promoted by NGOs are regenerating traditional sources of water. Maharastra: Water sharing groups have been formed. | |||
| Shivaliks in Northeast: World Bank watershed development project | ||||
| Donors | Lack of resources, e.g. water | NGOs and international initiatives are involved in resource management. |
Fair conditions for employment
| Issue | Major groups mentioning the issue | Nature of problem | Ongoing responses | Additional actions needed |
| Fair wages for all | Farmers | Women's work is either unpaid or women are not paid equal wages. Fair wages for all not ensured. | Women's organisations are agitating for fair wages for all. | Minimum wage parameters need to be revisited to bring in equal wages for equal work. People's empowerment. |
| UN | Lack of implementation of Minimum WageAct Exploitation of women workers in unorganised sector like agriculture. | Equalwages Ensuring minimum wages | ||
| Security of employment | NGOs | Poverty, desperate living conditions and high rate of suicides. | Awarenessprogrammes Children's education | |
| Safe and remunerative working conditions for female agricultural labourers | Women | Women are increasingly the majority of agricultural labour, as men folk tend to migrate to other areas in search of higher cash/higher status employment opportunities. Women are not getting minimum wages, often they are given only food and no cash; they are in the clutches of unjust relationships. Where contracts have been worked out, often unfair play is prevalent. Sexual harassment is also found. | There are many groups in the country working with agricultural labourers. Some are working specifically with the dalits (i.e. National Federation of Dalit WOS), some with labourers, and some withwomen. An interesting group to take note of is LAFTI, where dalits were given loans to purchase land. Another is DDS (Deccan Development Society). | Most important in this work is getting land to agriculture labourers so they can increase their incomes. |
Good practices for natural resource management
| Issue | Major groups mentioning the issue | Nature of problem | Ongoing responses | Additional actions needed | |
| Disaster management | Science and technology | No proper mechanisms in place to help farmers cope with unforeseen events (e.g., drought, crop failure) There are few programmes to prevent or mitigate disasters prior to the event: | Disaster management strategy in place | ||
| Efficient water use | Farmers | Water is wasted and not used optimally because of uninformed cultivation of water intensive crops. | Policy measures to regulate cultivation of crops according to availability of natural resources and economy of water use. | ||
| NGOs | Lack of knowledge on scientific resource management: Confusion and waste of resources | Awareness programmes. Training | Dissemination of knowledge both ways (both up and down) | ||
| UN | Lack of farmer's associations, such as water user associations | Education and awareness programmes about sustainable practices like better irrigation, timely irrigation, checks being run of evaporation losses, etc, which could improve water use efficiency | |||
| Group formation | Women | Women are not recognised as farmers. Even though they carry out 12/14 of the farming operations. This has been because men often do the ploughing. Agricultural loans given to men. Agricultural extension services directed at men. Seed inputs decided by men. | Small initiatives are counteracting this, specifically Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group in the eastern UP has organised dalit women into cooperatives and successfully incorporated them into agricultural decision-making and getting-foodgroups. Ekta Parishad in MP and Cutallisganh has organised a large number of mutual help groups that get credit to backup women in getting small pieces of land and cultivating them. | ||
| Linking research, technology development, extension & knowledge-sharing | Farmers | Very poor extension system. And poor research-extension-userlinks. Dissemination of good practice still scarce. | |||
| Science and technology | The ICAR institutions and agricultural universities are working somewhat in isolation from other realities. They are very scientifically oriented and technology focussed, not field focussed. Good practices are developed and evaluated as component technologies and not in the entirety of the specific farming system. There are research agencies and there are extension agencies but research is not the same as technology, so: nobody develops/prepares technology. Farmers need technology and not research. | Some local NGOs and POs trying to address this. | Issue should be addressed in a larger national or sub-national context. | ||
| Donors | Technically valid and successful approaches to NRM are often geographically isolated and don't experience a dissemination. | Some initiatives aim at creating needed institutional structures. | Initiatives like Sustainet or SARD try to promote good practices and feed their experiences into various policy-making levels. But institutional requirements are often not in place and implementing organisations have little opportunity to communicate their experiences on higher levels. | ||
| Organic agriculture | NGOs | Lack of appropriate knowledge for conversion to organic agriculture Lack of institutional backup/support for organic agriculture Lack of information about biological pest control | Dissemination of information is being promotedby: | Greater recognition needed for indigenous knowledge systems, traditional seedvarieties More to be done promoting organic agriculture practices, and trade links Government support needed for regulation, training and export promotion | |
| - | farmer's organisations | ||||
| - | private companies | ||||
| - | consultants | ||||
| - | NGOs working with farmers' groups | ||||
| - | government agencies at central and state level | ||||
| Safe water for irrigation and drinking | UN | Tanneries effluents in water being used for irrigation | Lucknow and Kanpur: GEF programme in certain districts informing people of danger, organising lobby groups Promotion of small water-purification filters for home use | ||
Good policies for natural resource management
| Issue | Major groups mentioning the issue | Nature of problem | Ongoing responses | Additional actions needed | |
| Conflicting agricultural policy signals | Farmers | Traditional knowledge not acknowledged | Agricultural policy to be balanced based on both researched data and traditional practices. | ||
| NGOs | Lack of government support to sustainable agriculture practices. Subsidies for fertilizers and pesticides | Central and State governments must do something. | |||
| Science and technology | Conflicting signals from different policies, e.g., irrigation to enhance agricultural productivity and free pricing of hydro power encourage high rates of water use that result in flooding practices, runoffs impacting land and water resources. | ||||
| Donors | National policies often clash with the promotion or dissemination of good NRM practices. Agricultural policies that promote "industrialised" conventional farming create obstacles for organisations trying to implement sustainable resource management practices. | NGOs are trying to promote urgent sustainable practices and lobby for them at policy level. | |||
| Dangers of Second Green Revolution | Science and technology | Call for a second green revolution as production has stabilised in the country. But this call needs to be tempered by the environmental impact assessment of the first green revolution. | Environmental Impact Assessment has been done and there is no lack of knowledge, National agricultural policy in place but the extent to which effectiveness of research is measured remains to be seen. The Indian Prime Minister has asked for a second green revolution and efforts should be made to evaluate lessons from the first one. | Some institutions, including NGOs, have started addressing this issue, but the approach is far from being institutionalised. Agricultural policies favouring cropping patterns adapted to natural resource potentials in different parts of the country Food security compatible with, not at the expense of, environmental and natural resource security | |
| Lack of a proper information base for policy formulation | Farmers | Institutional practices are not put in a system format. | A proper systems analysis required and institutions as relevant from the habitation level (there are 1 million habitations in India) to be set up according to agro-climatic zones. | ||
| Indigenous people | Absence of “critical minimum financial support” thwarting building/upkeep of physical structures needed for preservation/enhancement of local resources. People need some income to maintain & upgrade their nat. res. Ex: water harvesting tanks, check dams,… | Employment guarantee scheme has the potential to strengthen local indigenous people: | |||
| - | not migrating out during hunger months | ||||
| - | local solutions, in terms of productive assets building, can take up her hand over improper technical inputs externally imposed | ||||
| - | building stronger, more secure, communities | ||||
| Ensuring compatibility of food security and sustainability policies | Science and technology | Food security: how does one ensure availability and affordability over long run? | There is a public distribution system for the poor, but is it appropriate? functioning? | ||
| National forest policy | Women | ||||
| Water pricing | UN | When water is priced the tendency to use water recklessly is stopped. | |||
