H.E. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, delivering his inaugaural address
Mr. Joachim von Braun, Director-General of IFPRI and Smt. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chair, IFPRI, Board of Trustees, Prof. Gulati of IFPRI were among those present on the occasion.
The following is the text of the speech of the Prime Minister:
H.E. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, in an intensive discussion with Sartaj Aziz, former Senator from Pakistan
Marie Ruel, Director of IFPRI's Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, in conversation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
I am very happy to note that this office of IFPRI will be the hub of IFPRI’s research and capacity-strengthening activities in South, South-East Asia and Central Asia. I wish you well in this endeavour. Prof Gulati referred to the immense possibilities of mutual co-operation in South Asia and that is a well-known fact. So far we have not been able to utilise that vast, latent potential of our region and I sincerely hope that the future would indeed be different from the past. We in our country and our Government in particular are very sincere that together with our neighbours we should make a new beginning to deploy the enormous opportunities of converting people-to-people contact and exploiting the opportunities of economic and social co-operation that exist between the countries of South Asia. And I am particularly happy to see my esteemed friend, Sartaj Aziz in the audience, with whom I have shared ideas about promotion of the regional development for many years and it is my regret that we have not been able to live up to the promise that undoubtedly exists in this vast area of promoting co-operation between the countries of South Asia.
Both IFPRI and CGIAR have been extremely valuable associates in our effort to strengthen our food economy and the livelihood of our farmers. I share Dr. Joachim von Braun’s vision of encouraging a deeper and closer collaboration between IFPRI and its partners in this region, with a view to augmenting farm incomes and alleviating poverty.
International organisations like IFPRI must strike roots in the regions where they work, enabling a two-way interaction between the researchers and users of their research. There is also a need to work closely with the local researchers and collaborate with local institutions. India has fortunately built up a rich tradition of policy research and there is a considerable diversity of institutions engaged in policies. I do hope IFPRI will work in this direction by interacting closely with these institutions and draw on local knowledge and expertise in its work.
I believe, your research should also be sensitive to local needs and aspirations. Our Government has been voted to power on the wave of agrarian distress, caused partly by the failure of the market and partly by the failure of the State. We have committed ourselves to build a ‘New Deal’ to rural India. What does this ‘New Deal’ entail? It is intended to reverse the decline in the investment in agriculture. Prof von Braun referred to stepping up of investment in agriculture, including agricultural research. That happens to be one of our key priorities.
We need to set up the credit inflow to farmers, to increase public investment in irrigation and wasteland development, to increase funds for agricultural research and extension, as I have said, to create a single market for agricultural produce, to increase investment in rural healthcare, education, rural electrification, rural roads and commodities, futures markets. An important dimension of this ‘New Deal’ is aimed at ensuring food and nutritional security of the people, while at the same time, augmenting farm incomes and employment will be the launching of a “Second Green Revolution”. Our Government will be launching a National Horticulture Mission that is aimed, in part, at stimulating this “Second Green Revolution”, in a range of new crops and commodities.
And here, I would like to list some problems that we face. The First Green Revolution was not the by-product of the work in the public sector. It has always been recognised that research in agriculture-related subjects is largely extravagancies. That is why national Governments spend a particular amount on agricultural research. CGIAR came into existence as recognition of these extra baggages that go with agricultural research. But in the last 10 or 15 years, the growing privatisation of science and technology levels, it is a fact that with more advances in science and technology in areas like biotechnology are coming not from the public sector for sure, but from the private sector in research and development initiatives. The challenge is how to encourage this creativity, this innovativeness and at the same time to ensure that new products and new processes will be far affordable for the vast majority of farmers who live on the edges of subsistence. I think this is yet another matter, on which I hope IFPRI will concentrate its attention.
Even as we widen the scope of our policy concerns with respect to the agrarian economy, we must not forget that there remain the enduring challenges of our food economy that continue to demand our attention. It has been noted, for instance, that foodgrains demand has been decelerating in India in recent years, despite stability in food prices and persistence of low nutritional standards among the poor. What is puzzling is the fact that statistical evidence does not point to a deterioration in the health indicators. Rather, there is an improvement in human development indicators pertaining to the health status of the people. How do we explain this puzzle?
There is the other puzzle that the consumption of more expensive cereals has gone up even among poorer households, while the demand for so-called “inferior cereals” has stagnated. What are the health and nutritional implications of this food preference in the long run? We need a better monitoring of food availability and food access situation in the country and in South Asia as a whole. We also need to understand what exactly are the food and nutritional security challenges in different parts of the country as vast, diverse and complex as India is. I am told the Planning Commission is considering setting up a Food and Nutrition Security Watch to function as a “think tank” on food and nutrition security issues as well as a programme reviewing agency. I hope this will help to advance our understanding of the underlying causes of malnutrition and also outline the strategies on how to deal with it.
In many ways the challenge of dealing with the food and nutritional security is the responsibility in our Federal system of the State governments. However, the Central Government cannot remain indifferent to the needs of people. The Centre is actively engaged in supporting schemes and programmes for promoting agricultural production. It is also funding programmes aimed at enhancing the food security of the people, including the National Food-for-Work Programme. There are targeted programmes for children, for pregnant and nursing mothers and for weaker sections of society. Our Government has strengthened the Mid-Day Meal scheme and the Antyodaya Anna Yojana. All told, we are devoting as much as Rs 40,000 crore to these social programmes.
The real challenge, however, is one of implementation and of delivery of services. Our Government would like to emphasise “outcomes” and not merely focus on “outlays”. The effectiveness of spending must improve both in terms of administrative efficiency and the impact on target groups. We cannot allow a situation to persist in this country where food surpluses and accumulating food stocks co-exist with starvation deaths and persistent malnutrition. The real challenge here is one of delivery and of reforming administrative systems. India can banish hunger and malnutrition. It is entirely doable. I hope our political and administrative leaderships at all levels will rise to this challenge. It is such preparation that can play a very important role in sharpening the scope of awareness of the challenges that lie ahead and the instrumentalities that can be effectively used to deal with those challenges. There is much that local governments can do to address this challenge. They must be more actively engaged in monitoring both availability and access to food at the local level and play an active role in improving the food security of the people. Our Government is strongly committed to empowering the Panchayat Raj institutions and NGOs in meeting this challenge at the grassroots.
The question of food and livelihood security at the local and national levels has acquired a new global dimension with the increasing liberalization of trade in agriculture and the globalisation of both, research and of marketing of inputs. National boundaries do not matter any longer. How can national and local governments deal with the challenge of food and nutritional security in a globalised market? What are the challenges globalisation poses to the food security of a people? What can we do to make globalisation a truly win-win game. There are both opportunities as well as risks. How can working together with international agencies can devise mechanisms of social safety nets that these risks can be prevented. This ultimately is also an important agenda for research in the years to come.
In what way will globalisation and the liberalization of trade impinge upon our traditional knowledge? It is easy to talk about the rationality of open markets, but one must also be alive to the rationality of social practices. Agriculture is not just a business in our country, for millions of Indians it still remains a way of life. How can we preserve this cherished way of life of so many, and yet be part of the emerging processes of globalisation?
Such are the challenges that policy-makers face and researchers must be alive to them. The economist’s assumption of “ceteris paribus” is not a luxury available to politicians. In the real world, other things are rarely, if ever, equal as we push for change.
There is today a new challenge that Governments have to deal with in formulating policy with regard to the food economy. This is the emergence of the private sector, both in research and infrastructure. Our erstwhile model of fully publicly funded research and development in agriculture and largely publicly funded investment in rural infrastructure is being replaced by increasing private participation. Private investment in bio-technology, in developing and marketing seeds, in power, irrigation and other rural infrastructure, and in agricultural research, is increasing. How do we promote greater public-private partnership in the context of managing the creative evolution that I talked about. How do we create a stake for the private sector in the welfare of the marginalized? How do we serve public interest while creating incentives for private investment? These are challenges for policy-makers in agriculture.
I hope IFPRI will catalyse a new wave of research in India and South Asia. South Asia remains far behind its potential, both in terms of human development and in terms of agricultural and industrial production. I sincerely hope that we can all work together to improve the quality of life and the living standards of the people of South Asia. I hope IFPRI will also enable a better sharing of information and experience between South, South-East and Central Asia. These three regions encompass a wide range of agro-climatic regimes and can be laboratories for the world. I wish you all success in the noble task that you are engaged in”.
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