Global food price spikes in 2008 and again in 2011 coincided with a surge of political unrest in low- and middle-income countries. In some places, food riots turned violent, pressuring governments and in a few cases contributed to their overthrow. Foreign investors sparked a new global land rush, adding a different set of pressures, andContinue reading “Book Review: Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability edited by CB Barrett”
Tag Archives: India
Link Pack #2: Vulnerability indicators, pluralism, participatory farmer advisories
A new paper by Katherine Vincent and Tracy Cull that reviews debates around using indicators to assess climate change vulnerability. The section on \’principles for developing robust indicators\’ is interesting and emphasises the need for a clear conceptual framework, transparent choice and aggregation of indicators, a critical examination of different methodologies and their assumptions, and finally,Continue reading “Link Pack #2: Vulnerability indicators, pluralism, participatory farmer advisories”
Modi, secularism, and the future of Indian democracy
Do you, as a voter, feel trapped by the Modi/Rahul Gandhi binary? Are you questioning the future of democracy in India? And what does Modi\’s rise say for the nation\’s secularism? These were some of the questions discussed in a session organised by The South Asian Studies School at Oxford and King\’s India Institute last weekContinue reading “Modi, secularism, and the future of Indian democracy”
Decision making for climate change adaptation
In a recent talk at the Walker Institute, climate change adaptation specialist Suraje Dessai stressed the need to move away from the linear model of \’predict and provide\’ which believes that more science = better decisions = successful adaptation, towards an understanding of the limits of what science can provide. Talking in the context of decision making for climateContinue reading “Decision making for climate change adaptation”
National Food Bill: A short review of the critiques
Picture from Forbes India What? The National Food Security Bill aims to provide food to 67% of India\’s 1.2 billion people by distributing heavily subsidized food grain (5kg of grain @ Rs.1/kg). First introduced in 2011, the bill has invited heated debate, caused parliamentary disruptions and is yet to be passed. Why the criticism? Where will the money to finance the scheme comeContinue reading “National Food Bill: A short review of the critiques”
Nero\’s Guests: A Documentary on the Indian Agrarian Crisis
P. Sainath is the Rural Affairs Editor at The Hindu. After a decade of covering farmer suicides in water-scarce Maharashtra, he has repeatedly witnessed men and women die, trapped by the twin issues of the commodification of the countryside and inadequate policy frameworks. He is, justifiably, an angry man. Nero\’s Guests is a documentary that followsContinue reading “Nero\’s Guests: A Documentary on the Indian Agrarian Crisis”
Harvest season: The important of social capital to a farming household
I\’m tired. And it’s only 8:00 am. I trudge along the dirt track that leads me to the latest village I have been frequenting. After two bus rides that pulverised my morning meal quite successfully, and a quick zip on a motorcycle, during which I nearly flew, I must complete the last 2 km onContinue reading “Harvest season: The important of social capital to a farming household”
The Commodification of Water Part 2
\”If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water – unless we change our approach to managing this precious and vital resource.\” ~ Ismail Serageldin, World Bank Vice President, 1995 The importance of water for sustaining life is one of the early lessonsContinue reading “The Commodification of Water Part 2”
The Commodification of Water: Deconstructing water privatisation
All of us have felt the joy of slaking one\’s thirst with water, washing away the unforgiving heat of a Delhi summer with a cool glass of water. But have you ever paused to think about where we get our water from? How are we using this resource? Is it finite or will be alwaysContinue reading “The Commodification of Water: Deconstructing water privatisation”
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