POLICY ROUNDTABLE ON AGRI-FOOD TRANSFORMATION AND DOUBLING FARMERS’ INCOME IN ODISHA

Raising farmers’ incomes has been at the forefront of the national policy agenda since the last few years. The doubling farmers’ incomes (DFI) initiative of the Government of Odisha is an ambitious step towards this goal. A majority of farmers in Odisha, like in other parts of India, are smallholders and have low crop yields—lower than national averages in many instances. The challenges faced by these farmers have been exacerbated in the last few decades due to climate change which has resulted in an increased intensity as well as frequency of adverse weather events. There have been several steps taken by the Government of Odisha in the past to overcome these challenges and sustainably enhance the livelihoods of farmers. The outcomes from these steps indicated that there is a need to enhance the coordination of the efforts from various government departments, partners, and other stakeholders for further improvement in outcomes for the farmers.

In this regard, the Government of Odisha (GoO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in May of this year. The MoU is aimed at facilitating long-term collaboration between IFPRI and the GoO to generate the evidence needed for policy formulation and effective implementation of programs to increase farmers’ incomes and improve the welfare of rural households in the state. The partnership also endeavors to develop a network of key stakeholders, including policymakers, private sector institutions, and civil society organizations in prioritizing challenges and possible approaches to enable faster diffusion of sustainable technologies, practices, and innovative policies for smallholders’ welfare.

Building on the MoU, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DoAFE) in collaboration with IFPRI organized a high-level policy roundtable in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on October 20 and 21, 2022 on issues related to building a resilient food system in the state to improve farmers’ incomes. The event was also supported by the CGIAR initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS).

The roundtable brought together nearly 100 state officials, experts, and representatives from government bodies, technical support organizations, donors, international and local NGOs, multilateral agencies, and civil society organizations who are working to support the GoO’s efforts on DFI. The two-day dialogue featured sessions on developing sustainable and resilient agriculture and market systems, water and energy policies for food system transformation, and strategies for future cooperation. An important aspect of the discussions was to identify and optimize the various ongoing lines of work by the different institutions and actors, and to prevent an overlap of efforts.

Watch the live stream of the policy roundtable here.