Food and Agricultural Sovereignty

The Orientation Law on Agricultural Sovereignty and Generational Renewal (2024) enacted by France has renewed global attention on the need to link food sovereignty with generational renewal in agriculture. The law recognizes that ensuring long-term food security requires not only protecting agricultural production but also attracting young people into farming.

What is Food and Agricultural Sovereignty?

• Food Sovereignty, also known as Agricultural Sovereignty, refers to the right of people, communities, and nations to determine their own agricultural and food systems. It emphasizes local control over land, seeds, water, markets, production systems, and agricultural policies, ensuring that farming remains socially just, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable.

• Unlike the concept of Food Security, which focuses primarily on ensuring that people have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food, Food Sovereignty goes a step further by asking who produces food, how it is produced, and who controls the resources required for agriculture.

• The concept was first articulated by the international farmers' movement La Via Campesina during the 1996 World Food Summit and has since gained recognition from international institutions, including the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank.

Guiding Principles of Food Sovereignty

• Food Sovereignty is founded on six interrelated principles that seek to transform agriculture into a system centred on farmers and communities.

• It recognizes the right to adequate and nutritious food as a fundamental human right while ensuring that food producers receive dignity, fair income, and social recognition.

• The concept promotes localised food systems, encourages community control over agricultural resources, strengthens traditional knowledge and farming skills, and advocates agriculture that works in harmony with nature rather than exploiting natural resources.

• Thus, Food Sovereignty seeks not only to increase agricultural production but also to empower present and future generations of farmers.

Importance of Food Sovereignty

• Food Sovereignty is increasingly viewed as an essential pillar of economic resilience, national security, and sustainable development.

• It reduces dependence on imported agricultural inputs such as commercial seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals, and food commodities, thereby strengthening national self-reliance.

• By promoting local production systems, protecting biodiversity, encouraging indigenous seeds, and supporting small farmers, it contributes to climate resilience, rural employment, and inclusive agricultural growth.

India's Progress Towards Agricultural Sovereignty

• India has made significant progress in strengthening agricultural sovereignty since the Green Revolution, which transformed the country from a food-deficit nation into one of the world's leading producers of food grains, pulses, milk, fruits, and vegetables.

• The country's commitment to agricultural sovereignty is reflected through several policy initiatives.

• The Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism provides farmers with assured prices for major crops, while public procurement and the Public Distribution System (PDS) ensure both farmer welfare and food security.

• India has also promoted indigenous crops and traditional seeds, particularly through the celebration of the International Year of Millets (2023).

• Schemes such as PM-KISAN, Kisan Credit Card (KCC), and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) provide financial assistance, institutional credit, and crop insurance to support small and marginal farmers.

The Emerging Challenge of Generational Renewal

• Despite these achievements, Indian agriculture faces an important structural challenge—the declining participation of young people in farming.

• According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2017, nearly 42% of rural youth aged 14–18 years were engaged in work, and 79% of them were associated with agriculture, mostly on their own family farms.

• However, only 1.2% of these young people expressed a desire to become farmers in the future.

• This indicates that although agriculture continues to employ a large proportion of rural youth, it is increasingly viewed as an unattractive profession.

Major Challenges to Agricultural Sovereignty in India

Declining Youth Participation

Agriculture has become less attractive because of low profitability, income uncertainty, price volatility, and increasing climate-related risks. As a result, many young people prefer employment opportunities outside agriculture.

Land Fragmentation

According to the Agriculture Census, more than 85% of Indian farmers are small and marginal farmers.

Rising Indebtedness

Increasing costs of cultivation, dependence on institutional and non-institutional credit, and unstable market prices have led to rising farmer indebtedness.

Climate Change and Ecological Stress

Agriculture is becoming increasingly vulnerable to erratic monsoons, soil degradation, groundwater depletion, heat waves, and extreme weather events.

Dependence on Imported Inputs

India remains dependent on imports for several agricultural inputs, including fertilisers, agrochemicals, and certain categories of commercial seeds.

Absence of a Dedicated Youth-Focused Agricultural Policy

Unlike France, India currently lacks a dedicated institutional framework that specifically promotes generational renewal in agriculture by attracting, training, and supporting young farmers.

Government Initiatives Supporting Agricultural Sovereignty

• India has introduced several schemes that indirectly strengthen agricultural sovereignty.

• Income support is provided through PM-KISAN, while Kisan Credit Card (KCC) improves farmers' access to affordable institutional credit.

• Sustainable agriculture is promoted through the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), and the Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP) for natural farming.

• Resource conservation is encouraged through the Soil Health Card Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).

• Market access has improved through initiatives such as the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), and the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF).

France's Model of Generational Renewal

• France has adopted a more comprehensive approach through its Orientation Law on Agricultural Sovereignty and Generational Renewal (2024).

• The legislation explicitly links food sovereignty with the need to attract and retain young farmers.

• The law provides financial assistance, simplifies administrative procedures, improves agricultural education and training, facilitates access to farmland, and promotes environmentally sustainable farming practices.

• It also aligns national agricultural policy with the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), under which young farmers receive direct income support, eco-scheme incentives, and transition assistance, making agriculture a more economically attractive profession.

Conclusion

Food Sovereignty represents a broader vision of agriculture that goes beyond food production to include farmer empowerment, local resource control, environmental sustainability, and intergenerational continuity.

While India has made significant progress in achieving food self-sufficiency, ensuring the future of agriculture will require attracting the next generation into farming through dedicated institutional support, technological innovation, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.