Our Blog

By Mr. Jayanta Chakraborty (President)

It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food. If done right, agriculture, forestry & fisheries can provide nutritious food for all & generate decent income, while supporting people centred rural development & protecting the environment. Sustainability need to be maintained for inter generational enquity in resource utilization.

We are answerable to future generations as they will totally depend on our resource utilization patterns & practices in present day. A profound change of the global food & agriculture system is needed if we are to nourish today’s 925 million hungry and additional 2 billion by 2050.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has launched a zero hunger challenge, investing nations to be boldly ambitious as they work for a future where no one goes hungry. The zero hunger challenge has the following objectives:

• 100% access to adequate food all year round.
• Zero stunted children below two years, no mal nutrition in pregnancy & early motherhood.
• All food systems are sustainable.
• 100% growth in small holder productivity & income, particularly women.
• Zero loss or waste of food, including responsible consumption.

Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, proving livelihood for 40% of today’s global population. 500 million small farms worldwide, mostly rainfed, provide almost 80% of food consumed in a large part of the developing world. Investing in small holdings is an important way to increase food security & nutrition to the poor as well as food production for local and global market.

Ultimately the farmer should get due recognition for his/her profession which is absent today from the higher end non-agrarian society who are directly dependent on the skills & diligence of the farming community.