Moving India’s Needle Forward towards SDG 2:
Can Inclusive Tenure Security help expediting Food & Nutrition Security and Doubling Farm Income?
In a plenary session at India Land and Development Conference 2020, we deliberated with ICRISAT and Centre for Agriculture Policy Dialogue, on critical relationship between land tenure security and food and nutritional security in the context of #SDG 2. The session was moderated by Dr. Arabinda Padhee, Director, Country Relations, ICRISAT and contributed by eminent experts from policy circle, Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO, NRRA: Doubling Farm Income & Land Tenure Security; Dr Tajamul Haque, Director, CAPD: Land Leasing Reform & Food Security; Mr Basant Kar, Member, Steering Committee, South Asian Policy Leadership for Nutrition and Growth (SAPLING): Nutrition-Tenure linkages and potential policy pathways; Dr. Bhaskar Vira, University of Cambridge: Forest (Rights) as source Food and Nutritional Security (video message); Dr. R V Bhavani, Director, Agriculture-Nutrition-Health, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation – MSSRF: Agriculture- Nutrition Pathways and Women Land Rights; Ms. Safia Aggarwal, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome: FAO perspectives around SDG 2 and Sunil Simon, Head – SARE, SAFBIN Programme, Caritas – Small Farmers and Nutrition Security.
The panel discussed if and how secure tenure by women, men and community over farm, commons and forest land influence and impact family nutrition along with farm production and income? The session explored the opportunities to converge on potentially synergistic policy pathways and institutional framework which can catalyse the move towards food and nutrition security through a more inclusive and integrated approach embedding land tenure security.
Smallholder Land Governance challenges need to be addressed with appropriate policy frameworks (and political will) for transformation. Women’s land rights are key to positive #nutrition outcomes. Inclusive tenure security and access to land is crucial for food and nutritional security. Ensuring long term access to land for smallholder farmers and ensuring Land Tenure Security is a key building block for #Doubling Farmers’ Income and to achieve SGD2.
