OXFAM INDIA ISSUE BRIEFING MAY 2013

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK AND

FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA
SUMMARY
Food security remains an important concern in India. A large number of people
continue to dependent on traditional livelihoods. About 53 per cent of the population
depends on agriculture for their primary livelihood. 1 Unequal distribution of land and
limited investment in the agriculture sector are increasing the precariousness of this
group. Public interventions such as the Public Distribution System, which aim to
ensure access to food for all, do not compensate for these trends.
Food security is part of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) strategy for 2008 –
2020, 2 but is not a core area of intervention. The ADB also recognizes that the
Pacific and South East Asia regions face long-term risks of food insecurity. 3 Its
operational plan towards sustainable food security in the region adopted in
December 2009 sets goals and strategies to mainstream food security in its
interventions. It does so in two ways: direct interventions in areas related to food
security and safeguard measures to prevent negative impacts.
The Context in India
According to the Planning Commissions’ new poverty estimates 22 per cent of the
population in India is poor. 4 As per international norms this figure is higher: the
World Bank estimates that 33 per cent of India’s population lives under the
threshold of $ 1.25 per day. 5 Income inequality has grown dramatically over the
past two decades and is now on par with some of the highest worldwide. 6 The top 5
per cent of households possess 38 per cent of the country’s total assets, while the
bottom 60 per cent own merely 13 per cent of the country’s assets. 7
The hunger situation in India remains serious, despite high levels of economic
growth. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations,
40 per cent of children under the age of 3, and 33 per cent of adolescent girls are
undernourished. More than one third of women aged 15 to 49 suffer from chronic
energy deficiency. 8 These indicators are not spread evenly across the country:
states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Gujarat and Orissa
perform worse. The Economic Survey of India 2012-2013 highlights a decline in per
capita food availability: 9 per capita availability of food grains was 463 gram per day
in 2011, compared to 473 grams in 1990. 10 In the last two decades, growth rates of
food grain production and yield have declined substantially. 11
Landholding sizes are very small, with a country-wide average 1.16 hectare. 12
According to the Agriculture Census of 2010-11, 67 per cent of landholders are
marginal (less than one hectare); 85 per cent of landholders classify as small (less
than two hectares). The contribution of agriculture to the country’s GDP is reducing:
it was 15 per cent during the 11th Five Year Plan compared to 23 per cent during
the 9th Five Year Plan. 13 Some of the causes of this trend are: the reduction in
investments in agriculture and rural infrastructure; shortage of water; limited access
to modern technologies; and diversion of agricultural land for non-farm activities. 14
Climate change has also emerged as an imminent threat.

www.oxfamindia.org
The ADB in India
India is a founding member of the ADB and its 4th largest shareholder. The ADB
acknowledges India’s economic progress during the last couple of decades, but
observes that income disparities across groups and regions persist. This is
reflected in inadequate infrastructure and low social development indicators. ADB’s
country strategy for India (2009-12) focuses on poverty reduction through
infrastructure-led growth. It aligns itself with the Government of India’s 11th Five
Year Plan, by focusing on inclusive growth in economically weaker states. The
country strategy focuses on the following areas: rural development, agri-business
infrastructure, generation of productive employment opportunity and inclusive and
environmentally sustainable growth. 15 At the end of 2012, the cumulative
investment of the ADB in India was $ 29 billion: 35 per cent in energy; 31 per cent
in transport; 9 per cent in finance; 9 per cent in water and urban infrastructure
services; and 9 percent in multisector projects. 16 ADB’s intervention in the
agriculture sector is minimal, at less than 1 per cent of its total investment.
ADB’s Sectors of Interventions and Food Security
The ADB defines food security as sustainable access to adequate and safe food for
all. The ADB addresses the issue indirectly through its interventions in agriculture,
energy, transport and natural resource management. It identifies the following
constraints: stagnant food production; lack of finance, infrastructure and
technology; climate change and price volatility. 17 In response to these constraints,
the ADB focuses on the integration of production, processing and distribution
networks, and promotes farm and non-farm employment opportunities. It does not
address issues such as the diversification of crops, access to inputs such as seeds,
fertilizers, irrigation and technology for marginal farmers and capacity building. In
the following section, we look at three sectors that are related to food security –
agriculture, energy and water supply.
Agriculture
ADB’s interventions in agriculture concentrate on creating conducive market-
environment for farmers. For example, ADB has financed a project titled
‘Agribusiness Infrastructure Development Investment Program’ in Bihar and
Maharashtra. The project seeks to enhance income and employment opportunities
by supporting the commercialization of agriculture produce. It aims to diversify
production and promote high added-value production. Its envisaged outcomes are
and increase in investments and the management of at least eight value chains for
horticultural crop by private stakeholders. The project primarily benefits to farmers
who own substantial lands and are already producing high value crops. It does not
reach out to subsistence farmers, who constitute most of India’s agriculture-
dependent population.
Another project – the Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water
Management Investment Program – promotes participatory irrigation management.
The project aims to strengthen community structures, such as water user
associations. Such interventions have potential to reduce mismanagement and
benefit to marginal and small farmers, but their number remains limited.
To summarise, ADB’s investments aim to build farmer’s capacity to access the
market by updating technologies, increasing public investment in infrastructure
(such as roads from production areas to collection points), and private investment
and management in modern marketing infrastructure (such as cold chains,
controlled atmosphere storages, and automated grading). Such interventions
benefit small farmers but fail to reach out to marginal farmers, whose production
focuses on subsistence. 18

2
Investment in collaborative learning and knowledge management is limited.
Community based organizations are not involved and community practices are not
integrated in the process of strengthening sustainable food security.
Energy
For the ADB, energy interventions and food security are linked because volatile
energy prices and climate change will exert upward pressure on food prices. These
trends will have long-lasting adverse effects on the poverty situation and the overall
economy of developing countries. 19 The rationale for energy sector projects is to
increase access to electricity (though it is admitted that this increase has not been
quantitatively measured) and mitigate climate change by creating indigenous
renewable energy resources. Large investments in hydro and solar energy seek to
create alternatives to coal fired power generation. However, these interventions
face fierce criticism by civil society organizations because they lack strong
safeguards regarding displacement, rehabilitation and environmental impact. 20
Water
In the water supply sector, the ADB focuses on capacity development and technical
assistance to improve access to sanitation and water supply. Projects are
concentrated in metropolitan cities areas, and thus do not reach out to poor people
in second-tier cities and rural areas. 21 Moreover, ADB’s projects linked to water
supply lack convergence with other services such as health and education that are
fundamental to serve the poor and promote food security.
Recommendations
The ADB should ensure that its projects in the agriculture sector contribute to food
security. Marginal and women farmers should be prioritized. The ADB should
provide them advanced technological knowledge and capacities and their
participation in irrigation management. The ADB’s projects in other sectors should
be designed so as to avoid adverse impacts: safeguard policies should be
strengthened and implemented tightly. Furthermore, promoting community
participation in designing and implementing projects will help improve the
effectiveness of ADB’s projects and ensure that they meet its target beneficiaries –
the poor.
This note was written by Shyam Singh and Saudamini Zutshi, with
contributions from Lucy Dubochet, Jessica Rosien, and Vanita Suneja.

NOTES
1 th
Planning Commission of India, 12 Five Year Plan document, Vol. II, Economic Sectors, p. 54,
available at: http://planningcommission.gov.in/plans/planrel/12thplan/pdf/vol_2.pdf
2
Asian Development Bank(2010), ‘Operational Plan for Sustainable Food Security in Asia and the
Pacific’, Manila, p.1, available at: http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/pub/2009/Sustainable-Food-
Security.pdf, accessed April 2013.
3
Ibid, p.2
4
Based on the Planning Commission’s 2012 poverty line of INR 28 in urban areas and INR 22 in rural
areas. R.P. Mamgain, ‘Situating Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Post-2015
Framework’, Working Paper, Delhi: Oxfam India.
5
World Bank, Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.25 per day, available at:
http://data.worldADB.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY, accessed April 2013.
6
Lanjouw and R. Murgai (2011) ‘Perspectives on Poverty in India’, Washington DC: World Bank, p.24,
available at: http://www-
wds.worldADB.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/05/05/000356161_20110505
044659/Rendered/PDF/574280PUB0Pers1351B0Extop0ID0186890.pdf, accessed April, 2013.
7
Institute of Applied Manpower Research and Planning Commission of India (2011), ‘India Human
Development Report 2011’, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, p. 105.
8 th
Planning Commission of India, 12 Five Year Plan document, Vol. III, Social Sectors, available at:
http://planningcommission.gov.in/plans/planrel/12thplan/pdf/vol_3.pdf, accessed April 2013.
9
Government of India, Economic Survey of India for 2012-13, p. 191, available at:
http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2012-13/echap-08.pdf, accessed April 2013.
10
Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Reply to a question by Harish
th
Rawat, Minister of
State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, in Lok Sabha on 14 August, 2012, available at
: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=86111, accessed April 2013.
11
S. Mahendra Dev and Alakh N. Sharma (2010), ‘Food Security in India - Performances, Challenges
and Policies’, Oxfam India Working Paper Series, Sept, p. 2.
12
Agriculture Census, 2010-11, available at:
http://agcensus.nic.in/document/agcensus2010/CompleteReport.pdf, accessed April 2013.
13
Planning Commission of India, Ibid, p. 1
14
Planning Commission of India (2007), “Report of Steering Committee on Agriculture for the XIth Plan”,
p.2, available at: http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/strgrp11/str11_agriall.pdf,
accessed April 2013.
15
Asian Development Bank, India Country Partnership Strategy 2009-12, available at:
http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/pub/2009/CSP-IND-2009.pdf, accessed April 2013.
16
Asian Development Bank, Country Fast Facts: http://www.adb.org/countries/india/main, accessed April
2013.
17
Ibid, p.2
18
ADB’s Operational Plan for Sustainable Food Security in Asia and the Pacific focuses on small
farmers exclusively, and don’t mention about marginal farmers even once.
19
Ibid, p. 5
20
International accountability project (IAP), an Asia-wide network of NGOs, advocates stronger
safeguards policies and making ADB’s programmes rights inclusive. It has been criticizing ADB’s
interventions on displacement and rehabilitation issues.
21
Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011, Paper 2, Vol. 1, available at:
http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/india/paper2_1.pdf , accessed on
April 2013.

© Oxfam India May 2013.

This publication is copyright but the text may be used free of charge for the purposes of
advocacy, campaigning, education, and research, provided that the source is acknowledged
in full. The copyright holder requests that all such use be registered with them for impact
assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, permission must be
secured. E-mail: [email protected].
Published by Oxfam India: 4th and 5th Floor, Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra, 1 Copernicus
Marg, New Delhi – 110 001.
Oxfam India, a fully independent Indian organization, is a member of an international
confederation of 17 organisations. The Oxfams are rights-based organizations, which fight
poverty and injustice by linking grassroots interventions to local, national, and global policy
developments.
For further information please write to: [email protected], or visit our website:
www.oxfamindia.org.