Transforming Food Systems for Higher, Sustainable, and Inclusive Agricultural Growth: Role of Policies and Institutions

Abstract

Driven by the sustained income growth, increasing urbanization, changing lifestyles, and increasing participation of women in workforce, the dietary patterns in India have undergone a significant transformation in favor of high-value food commodities. This transformation is also reflected in the production portfolio at the upstream—the high-value food commodities have consolidated their share of agricultural growth, from 51% in the 1980s to over 87% in the 2010s. The factors underlying these changes in the food system have been quite robust in the recent past, and are unlikely to subside in the near future, implying an acceleration in its transformation in the future plausible socio-economic scenario. Sustaining food system transformation will require significant institutional and policy support, in terms of investment in markets, storage, food processing, and food safety and traceability systems; and information and credit support for managing the production and price risks, besides reforming the existing policies that are biased towards staple cereals. The absence of such a support may deprive the smallholder farmers, who are more engaged in high-value food production, of the benefits of the food system transformation.