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India and FAO: Achievements and Success Stories

Year of publication 2011

Pages 19 p.

Product type Document

Category Other document

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) India has come a long way since 1945 when it became one of the founding members of FAO as a low-income food-deficient country. Today the country is not only self-sufficient in rice and wheat, it also exports a range of food products and at any given time has up to 60 million tonnes of food grain buffer stocks! In this journey of success, FAO has been a staunch partner since 1948, when FAO operations in India first began. In a country as large as India it is inevitable that the investment by FAO, in money terms, is small compared to the investment of the Government of India in agricultural development. Although the dollar-value of the assistance may be small, in terms of technical inputs, FAO has made a significant contribution. In the words of M.S. Swaminathan, father of India’s green revolution, “FAO has played a catalytic role in India’s progress in the areas of crop and animal production and food security.” With its global experience, FAO has provided key policy and technical inputs in a range of areas involving the food and farm sectors. It has contributed greatly to the Indian success story. From 130 million tonnes in 1980, India’s food grain production has risen to over 240 million tonnes in 2010. With Operation Flood, milk production rose to 113 million tonnes from about 35 million tonnes in 1980, also making it one of the largest employers of rural people, especially women. Fish production has also grown substantially. Employing over 15 million people, India is now a major fish exporter. Development of water resources for irrigation has underpinned crop production. However, water scarcity and falling water tables have been a key concern in recent years. On the positive side, this has led to awareness that water is an exhaustible resource. As a result, the importance of judicious use of water is being increasingly recognized. Over the years, the work of FAO in India has gone well beyond the realm of food production, covering issues like access to food and nut rition, livelihoods, rural development and sustainable agriculture. With the looming impact of climate change and outbreaks of new strains of pests the work of FAO has become even more complex, making it an important knowledge partner to assist the country with informed decision-making. At the same time, India is also an important knowledge partner of FAO, providing technical expertise to other countries, and it acts as an important source of development lessons.

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