Grass roots NGOs and their protest movements are critical for strengthening agriculture and food security!

Civil Society movements were very active at the Cancun venue and their protests ranged from globalising the issues to saving the forests to the lifestyles of the indigenous people and landless workers etc. There were 3000 to 5,000 workers and protestors and they were organised around the central theme of Market-led solutions is not sustainable solution at all.
So, their slogan was no to market led climate change policies. No to capitalism of forests. No to REDD plus, Reducation Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD plus) a proposal that wants it should help people to manage forests among themselves.

These types of protests are now the norm in almost every international conference and they cannot be dismissed out of hands.

They will be there and they are necessary to express the emotions and strong feelings for politicians who often do things just to make a point and forget about the practical implications soon. The very same things happened last in Copenhagen.

The Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila A.Odinga expressed his views at the conference and he made some sharp observations. The fast-start finance, funding of 30 billion pledged and the commitment of 100 billion annually by 2020, the Copenhagen accord pledged was not forthcoming and only 20 per cent of fast-funding was delivered, said the Kenyan Prime Minister.

He called for a clear reaffirmation of the 30 billion fast-start finance to be made available by 2010 and at least one-half he called for adaption, technology etc.

In conclusion, we have to note the experts who make things easier for the common man for what is involved here and what simple, easy to understand by everyone, needs to be implemented.

One is energy efficiency.
This has been demonstrated in countries far off, like Ethiopia (where flurescent light bulbs had led to reducing 100 million dollars for leasing and fuel diesel power plants, by spending just 5 million dollars! More wind and solar energy could become more cost-competitive.

Protected forests do protect the precious resources and hell reduces poverty, as proved in Costa Rica and Thailand.

So, we have hope! More energy efficiency policies, more conservation and protection of forests, of course wise financing options to countries and use of technology.
Mankind had always faced challenges and had risen up to meet such challenges.

Let us hope this time, with the threat of climate change facing us squarely at our face, the countries, big and not so big would see the wisdom of international co-operation.

Agrarian relations and field studies
“Indian village is a swamp of inequity” vidence of “inclusiveness” in the story of India’s economic growth remains “mixed” said Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen recently. Addressing the fifty-second annual conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), Prof. Sen remarked, “Our standing in the international community is mainly because of growth, rather than ‘inclusiveness’.” The three-day event, conducted jointly by ISLE and the Department of Economics, Karnatak University, has attracted more than 400 delegates, including participants from Brazil, South Africa, Bangladesh, Russia, China and Nepal.

The conference will deliberate upon three themes mainly: planning for full employment, labour migration and the emerging patterns of employment relations. Delivering a special lecture in honour of the late Radhakamal Mukerjee, V.K. Ramachandran, Professor, Social Science Division, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, urged young scholars to conduct field surveys to understand better “the agrarian question, which remains the most important national, political and social question of our times.” Speaking on the theme of ‘Agrarian relations and field studies,’ Prof. Ramachandran debunked the widespread notion of a “homogenous village community” and said “the Indian village is a swamp of inequity.”

Drawing on intensive field surveys conducted across the country by his team in the last few years, Prof. Ramachandran said “the extent of the proletarianisation of the Indian peasantry is far greater than what is revealed by official data sources.” Official data also grossly underestimate the extent of tenancy in the Indian countryside, he added. The dismantling of institutional structures of credit has facilitated the spread of microfinance agencies, which charge interest rates ranging from 34-57 per cent, according to the village surveys, Prof. Ramachandran said.

Jobless growth. Jayati Ghosh, Chairperson, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, speaking on the subject of planning for full employment, said the last decade had been one of “jobless growth,” which has resulted in stagnant growth of the informal sector, stagnant wages and stagnant output in the organised sector.

“The promise that an opening up of the economy would result in greater absorption of labour has just not happened.” The “obsession” with exports had not paid off. The excessive speculation in commodity markets has had an impact on foodgrain prices, she said.
Speaking at a session devoted to employment trends in Karnataka, Chaya K. Degaonkar, Chairperson, Department of Economics, Gulbarga University, said although Karnataka had performed better than most other States in terms of human development indicators, “regional imbalances remain a major worry.” Agriculture remains the main source of employment in the northern districts of the State.

Source : Agriculture & Industry Survey