Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister's Speech at the Inauguration of IFPRI Office

Dr Joachim von Braun, Dr Isher Ahluwalia, Dr Ashok Gulati, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here today to inaugurate the New Delhi office of the International Food Policy Research Institute. I am happy to note that this office will be the hub of IFPRI's research and capacity strengthening activities in South, South-East and Central Asia. I wish you well in this endeavour. Both IFPRI and the CGIAR system have been valuable associates in our efforts to strengthen our food economy and the livelihoods of our farmers. I share Dr 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 organizations like IFPRI must strike roots in the regions where they work, enabling a two-way interaction between researchers and the users of their research. There is also a need to work closely with local researchers and collaborate with local institutions. India has built up a rich tradition of policy research and there is a diversity of institutions engaged in it. 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.

Your research should also be sensitive to local needs and aspirations. Our Government has been voted to power on a 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 giving a "New Deal To Rural India". What does this "new deal" entail? It is intended to reverse the decline in investment in agriculture; to step up credit flow to farmers; to increase public investment in irrigation and wasteland development; to increase funds for agricultural research and extension; 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", 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.

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 food grain demand has been decelerating in India in recent years, despite stability in food prices and persistence of low nutrition 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 poor 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. We also need to understand what exactly are the food and nutritional security challenges in different parts of the country. 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.

In many ways the challenge of dealing with the food and nutrition security is the responsibility of 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 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 mal-nutrition. The real challenge here is one of delivery and of reforming administrative systems. India can banish hunger and mal-nutrition. It is entirely do-able. I hope our political and administrative leaderships at all levels will rise to this challenge. 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 firmly 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?

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 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 respect 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 Indian agriculture? 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 making 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 believe 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 the best in your endeavours.