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International Conference on “Governance in Agriculture and Allied Sectors-Issues and Way Forward”
18-19th December 2014, Hyderabad, India
Title of the paper: Understanding theProblems of AgriculturalGovernance that directlyAffect Small-Farmers’Wellbeing and Strategy toImprove Governance inCrop Sector
The Setting
Describe the concept of governance and agricultural governance in the context of smallholder farming
Describe the structure of governance at different levels
Highlight governance challenges in smallholder agriculture
Strategy to improve agricultural governance for smallholder-dominated agricultural production
Recommendation
Governance defined
Governance, in a broad sense, refers to exercising power and decision-making for a group of people by a group granted this authority
- The UN outlines good governance as instances where authority and its institutions are accountable, effective and efficient; participatory, transparent, responsive, consensus-oriented and equitable
- Governance is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development (ADB)
- Governance is the exercise of political, economic, and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs (UNDP) - Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised (WB).
How governance differs from government?
Governance
State Non-State
Government
Non-government organizations, Civil society organizations, MediaProducer organizations, Cooperatives, Private sector
Civil bureaucracy,Public sector organizations Local government institutions
Power/Authority
•Government is one of the actors in executing the functions of governance.
• Governance is aimed at harnessing interactions and partnerships between the state, the society and the market to efficiently deliver public goods and services.
Governance
State/Government
NGO
CSO
Cooperatives
PrivateSectorPO
The size is shrinking; roles, approaches and methods are being redefined and recalibrated
New institutional arrangements are emerging to increase the capacity and contribution of this sector.
Factors shifting emphasis from government to governance
1. Decentralizationa. DeconcentrationShifts administrative responsibilities to subordinate units in regions, districts, field offices or local
administrations under supervision of the central government ministries
b. Delegation Transfers functions and decision making to semi-autonomous organizations accountable to , but not controlled by, the central government
c. Devolution Transfers decision-making, finance, and management authority, usually to local units with elected executives and legislative bodies with independent fiscal authority
d. Market decentralizationA shift of responsibility from the public sector to private sector via privatization of services or deregulation of public sector activities.
2. Globalization
It is a process of phenomenal increase in:• the volume of capital inflows, •trade in goods and services, and • investment .
As a result, geographic boundaries of nation states are being increasingly blurred making them economically more integrated and more interdependent.
Levels of agricultural governanceLocal: -Farmers’ groups, associations and cooperatives, -field units of extension and research organizations, local government institutions, NGOs, microfinance institutions, agricultural and farm workers’ units of political partiesNational :-Government-Private sector-Civil societyInternational: -Interaction with the Global Governance System for Food and Agriculture through: -MoUs, -bilateral agreements, -collaboration and partnerships
Agricultural governance
It is the exercise of authority to manage the natural and economic resources for development of a country’s agriculture sector
It is achieved through synchronization of the following:
•Effective functioning of its constituent institutions;
• Application of modern technology and innovations to stimulate and sustain growth in production and productivity;
• Implementation of policies;
•Monitoring of policy implementation process;
•Adherence to relevant acts and regulations, and
• Active participation of all concerned stakeholders.
Global Scenario of Food Security• Seven billion people live in the planet• 842 million people are hungry (one in every 8 persons)
• Nearly two-third of them are undernourished• Over 60 % of the undernourished live in Asia and the Pacific
• More than 1 billion people are living below 1.25 USD/day
• One billion people are overweight• 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year
Future Prediction • World population will reach 9.1 billion by 2050• Food production must be increased by 60 %, it has
to be increased 77% in developing countries• The world needs an extra 4 million tons of edible
oils every year• According to FAO estimation, by 2050, the world
will need an additional 150 million tons of edible oils and fats. From where it will come
Global agricultural production must increase 60% by 2050
13
Sub-Sa
haran Afric
a
Latin Ameri
ca &
Caribbea
n
South Asia
East
Asia0%
10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Increased yieldsIncreased cropping in-tensityLand expansion
Sources of fu-ture produc-tion growth
Source: FAO
Structure of World Farm holdings by region
570 millions farms in the world 73 % in Asia
417 millions in Asia
78% below 1ha1% above 10 ha
Structure of Family farms
- Out of more than 570 million farms in the world, over 500 million are family owned-They are responsible for at least 56% of agricultural productions
• Asia 85 %• North & Central America
83%• Europe68%• Africa 62%• South America 18%
Why is the focus on good governance in the context of smallholder farming?
•Small farms constitute the backbone of Asian farming. About 87% of the world’s 500 million small farms (<2 ha) are in Asia and the Pacific region (IFPRI, 2007).
•China and India alone account for 193 million and 93 million small farms, respectively.
•Three other Asian countries with a large number of small farms are Indonesia (17 million), Bangladesh (17 million) and Viet Nam (10 million).
Governance systems for food and agriculture in developing countries are plagued with the same category of challenges that
imperil the overall governance systems in these countries
These are:1. Low institutional capacity; 2. Lack of political and economic stability; 3. Weak democratization process; 4. Poor accountability and transparency; 5. Corruption; 6. Limited voice of the poor, women, and minorities
particularly in rural areas; 7. Lack of participation and access to information; and 8. Poor rule of law.
Increasing globalization of the agri-food system poses specific governance challenge at the national level
- low institutional capacity to formulate appropriate policies and regulatory guidelines for agribusiness companies, trans-boundary movement and local testing of exotic genetic resources and biotechnology products;
- inadequate capacity to frame appropriate national policy responses to ongoing processes in the complex system of international treaties like WTO, TRIPS, CBD, etc.;
- low capacity to effectively interface with the global governance systems for food and agriculture that are becoming increasingly complex with the entry of new players in this field.
Agricultural governance – Challenges facing developing countries of the Asia-Pacific
Reversing slowdown in growth of agricultural productivity and stimulating sustainable growth to meet present and future demands;Developing policy options to deal with volatility of food prices and keep them affordable for a vast majority of limited-income and poor people;
Devising adequate scientific, technical, policy, and institutional options to effectively address the constraints arising from a degraded and shrinking natural resource base – water, soil, land, biological diversity; Building resilience through adaptation and mitigation against the increase in frequency of extreme weather events impacting agriculture and rural livelihoods on unprecedented scales; -.
Upgrading the administrative and technical capacity of the public sector agricultural administration services for:
- effective participation in the global system of governance for food and agriculture so as to harness the maximum benefit for their agricultural systems Refocusing on small-holder farmers and increasing the productivity of small holder farming as the concept of sustainability occupies the centre stage of the evolving paradigm of agricultural development.
Way Forward
A main challenge of the agricultural governance systems in many countries of the Asia-Pacific region is to refocus on small-holder farmers and increasing the productivity of small holder farming as the concept of sustainability occupies the centre stage of the evolving paradigm of agricultural development.
Guiding the transition of their agricultural systems from the paradigm of Green Revolution to one that takes a holistic view of agricultural growth and its sustainability, equity, and efficiency with a focus on improving the productivity of smallholder farming
Changes in the mindset
From GROW and SAVE
To SAVE and GROW
Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production
Ecosystem approachExternal inputs complement natural processes
– better up-take of nutrients– pollination– natural pest control
Sustainable agricultural management systems 1. Conservation agriculture2. Fertilizers use 3. Improved crop varieties4. Water use 5. IPM6. IPNS7. IWM
Specific Governance Requirement for Sustainable Crop Production Intensification (SCPI)
-improved coordination across different ministries; - strengthening institutional capacity for efficient performance in new roles of
facilitator and coordinator, agricultural policy formulation and policy reform; - strengthening participation and deliberation; - effective decentralization of technology development and assessment and input
provision services embedded in a web of participatory and consultative mechanisms;
- improved access to information; and - control of corruption.
Creating new and strengthening existing local level institutions in theform of coordination committees, farmer field schools, or any structure thatbest suits specific country contexts will provide an organizational basis forhandling participatory processes and deliberative mechanisms
Recommendations• Improving governance in the food and agriculture sector as a key
element in implementing the strategy of sustainable agricultural development (SAD) in the context of their political systems, social norms, and unique experiences of administrative reform in public sector services
• Addressing specific governance challenges in SAD with a focus on smallholder farmers as key players in accelerating the transition to this new paradigm of intensification of agricultural production
• Boosting institutional capacity of public agricultural services to upgrade their managerial and technical competence to efficiently handle multipronged initiatives for change with engagement of a broad range of national and international stakeholders
Recommendations • Building adequate national capacity for policy analysis, formulation and
change as a key governance tool to efficiently manage a knowledge-intensive process of agricultural transformation and effectively participate in global governance systems for food and agriculture
• Modernizing the regulatory framework consisting of laws, rules, codes, and regulations to create incentives for the private sector to make investment and assume greater role in providing farmers with quality inputs and services
• Encourage investment in developing institutional structures at the local level including community-based organizations and farmers’ associations to facilitate participatory processes at the grassroots level that lend primary stakeholders a larger voice and greater influence over decision making and programme implementation by the public sector agricultural services.
Recommendations• Taking steps to delegate adequate authority, in the framework of ongoing
processes of administrative reform, to local units of the public agricultural service for effective decentralization of participatory technology development and assessment and service provision to farmers
• Making greater use of information and communication technologies to empower farmers with access to information in the broad framework of evolving digital governance for transparency, accountability, and efficiency of providing services to citizens
• Effective steps in controlling corruption in the public agricultural services to make efficient use of public resources in implementing programmes and approaches of sustainable crop production intensification in a process that will see greater interaction among farmers, research and extension workers and input providers.
