The goal of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 is to “end hunger, achieve food security, enhance nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”
However, the goal of SDG2 is under threat, and food security is challenged due to climate change. Unchecked population growth is an emerging threat that is further adding to the growing problem of feeding the masses.
Environmental degradation is having a major impact on food security challenges and is affecting food production, costs, and security.
The world is grappling with an environmental emergency due to the reliance on fossil fuels. Natural resources continue to be depleted at an alarming rate, and this is accelerating climate change and environmental degradation.
Some developed countries have adopted aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets, but continue to drag their feet. There have been wild swings in weather patterns leading to global warming and water scarcity. Crop production is impeded and yields continue to drop. In effect, global warming caused by climate change continues to have a major impact on the ecosystem on which agriculture depends. Natural calamities further exacerbate the food security risk.
The goal of SDG2 is under threat and food security is challenged due to climate change. Unchecked population growth is an emerging threat that is further adding to the growing problem of feeding the masses.
The Effects of Climate Change on Agricultural Development in India
- Changing weather patterns. India relies on rainwater irrigation for its agriculture. However, the impact of skewed rainfall patterns is leading to very heavy or scanty precipitation. This could be detrimental to agricultural production in India going forward. Agricultural development in India is affected adversely by extreme weather conditions such as severe and frequent droughts and floods. This in turn could have a domino effect on food output and lead to a rise in food prices. While India has managed to check food price inflation, some of its neighbors, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, face a crisis of sorts.
- Stress on water sources. Due to erratic rainfall, the stress on rivers, dams, streams, and groundwater sources continues to increase. Over-reliance on groundwater for consumption and agriculture continues to deplete water tables across the country. Climate change is leading to a change in the hydrological environment, which in turn increases the vulnerability of agriculture. Climate change is also leading to an alarming depletion of glaciers, ice caps, and snow fields leading to increased meltwater. Disappearing water from river basins, unregulated groundwater extraction, industrialization, and urbanization has led to volatility in the cryosphere. Thus, climate change leads to an increase in farmer uncertainty, and the need of the hour is to make farming resilient.
- Falling crop yield and nutritional values. With global warming, agriculture is affected by volatile droughts and heat waves. An increase in agricultural drought means that farmers will have to contend with a decline in the length of crop seasons and long periods of water scarcity. Some regions will have to manage coastal and river flooding. This would in effect lead to a reduction in crop yields and crop failures, thereby threatening the goals of SDG2. The yield of staple crops such as rice and wheat has already registered a decline along with a reduction in nutritional content as a result of climate change.
Changing weather patterns, stress on water sources, and falling crop yield and nutritional values are some of the effects of climate change on the agricultural development of India.
Indian Initiatives to Tackle Climate Change
Climate change is a phenomenon that has global dimensions. Therefore, an effective framework requires a cooperative effort from all the world nations. Moreover, these responsibilities should be built on “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities.” India has been an active contributor to multilateral efforts to tackle climate change. On the other hand, India is actively pursuing climate initiatives independently on a national level. India follows consistent climate policies. There is an emphasis on adaptation to climate change, keeping in mind the need for domestic growth and economic development.
India maintains its goal to install 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. India has promised to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070.
India has been an active contributor to multilateral efforts to tackle climate change. There is an emphasis on adaptation to climate change keeping in mind the need for domestic growth and economic development.
India Shows the Way Forward to SDG2
The agriculture sector contributes almost 15% to India’s $2.7 trillion economy. Enabling government policies will lead to the growth of this sector and create further opportunities.
India has undertaken crucial steps to enhance food security that include:
- India-wide targeted public distribution system
- National Nutrition Mission
- National Food Security Act
- The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
- National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture
Besides, several national schemes on horticulture, agricultural development technology, and livestock are targeted at improving India’s agriculture.
The Way Forward
Climate change is a global issue that should be viewed with a perspective that is a mix of immediate solutions and a long-term strategy to tackle the effects of changing weather patterns. Adaptation strategies in agriculture like crop intensification, temperature tolerant crop varieties, and use of green manures/biofertilizers can be a way forward. On the macro front, a focus on creating adaptive measures with investment in areas vulnerable to the effects of climate change should be a part of a long-term mitigation strategy. Priority research aimed at the effects of climate change will help to overcome the looming threat of malnutrition and food security in India.
India has undertaken crucial steps to enhance food security that include:
- India-wide targeted public distribution system
- National Nutrition Mission
- National Food Security Act
- The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
- National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture
Adaptation strategies in agriculture like crop intensification, temperature tolerant crop varieties, and use of green manures/biofertilizers can be a way forward.
S M Sehgal Foundation: Contributing to Food Security In India
S M Sehgal Foundation (Sehgal Foundation), a sustainable rural development NGO in India, has been working since 1999 to improve the quality of life in rural communities in India. Established as a public, charitable trust, S M Sehgal Foundation creates sustainable programs to address rural India’s most pressing needs: Sehgal Foundation’s main program areas are: Water Management, Agricultural Development, Local Participation, and Sustainability, Transform Lives one school at a time, and Outreach for Development.
S M Sehgal Foundation’s Agricultural Development Program promotes sustainable livelihoods in India by building the capacities of farmers, including women farmers, on improved agricultural practices and new technologies that increase crop yields, conserve water, and improve soil fertility.
Sustainable Guar Project
S M Sehgal Foundation is implementing a Sustainable Guar Project in Sriganganagar, Rajasthan, with its partner organization, Ashland LLC, with the aim is to improve and replicate its agriculture and water management innovations to enhance the quality of life of the farming community.
The project commenced with 250 farmers in 2021–22 in ten villages of Sriganganagar. After the farmers’ overwhelming response, the project was extended for three years to add 1,600 farmers every year. By 2025, the project will cover 5,000 farmers.
The project aims to train farmers about the benefits of regenerative and climate-smart agriculture through a Package of Practices (PoP) of guar and other crops. PoP will help farmers understand the importance of balanced nutrition for their crops. PoP also helps to reduce the cost of cultivation and increases overall profitability.
Cluster bean (guar) is a crop that requires less water, fewer fertilizers, and less labor compared to crops like cotton and soybean. It also helps in nitrogen fixation, which further provides nitrogen to next year’s crop. Thus, the project is promoting guar sowing for crop rotation to maintain soil health and promote crop diversity.
Farmers are now using guar for their consumption. They also sell seeds of guar directly in the market. The promotion of guar is beneficial in the food chain as it has high nutritive value. Due to rate hikes in recent years, farmers can manage the cost economics of this crop and increase areas under guar cultivation. Farmers have shown a good response and are motivated to join the program. This initiative will not only deliver inputs and training but will promote innovative farm technologies and better agronomic practices, which will bring holistic and sustainable development to the farming community.
The promotion of guar is beneficial in the food chain as it has high nutritive value. Due to rate hikes in recent years, farmers can manage the cost economics of this crop and increase areas under guar cultivation. Farmers have shown a good response and are motivated to join the program.
FAQs
The goal of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 is to “end hunger, achieve food security, enhance nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”
However, the goal of SDG2 is under threat and food security is challenged due to climate change. Unchecked population growth is an emerging threat that is further adding to the growing problem of feeding the masses.
Changing weather patterns, stress on water sources, and falling crop yield and nutritional values are some of the effects of climate change on the agricultural development of India.
India has undertaken crucial steps to enhance food security that include:
- India-wide targeted public distribution system
- National Nutrition Mission
- National Food Security Act
- The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
- National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture
Several national schemes on horticulture, agricultural development technology, and livestock are targeted at improving India’s agriculture.
On the macro front, a focus on creating adaptive measures with investment in areas vulnerable to the effects of climate change should be a part of a long-term mitigation strategy. Priority research aimed at the effects of climate change will help to overcome the looming threat of malnutrition and food security in India.
S M Sehgal Foundation is implementing a Sustainable Guar Project in Sriganganagar, Rajasthan, with its partner organization, Ashland LLC. The aim is to improve and replicate its agriculture and water management innovations to enhance the quality of life of the farming community.