IWMI & CEEW Study: Integrating Food, Land, and Water for Poverty Reduction in Odisha

International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) organized a state consultation workshop on 14 December 2023 on ‘Policy Coherence in Food, Land, and Water (FLW) Systems: A case study of Odisha’ at Bhubaneswar as a part of the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies Initiatives (NPS). The Food, Land and Water (FLW) project aims to identify key state-level policies in the food, land, and water systems that have a practical scope for improving coherence and hold most potential for creating an impact. The workshop was organized in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha.

As a part of the study, nine important state-level policies were identified. The presentation outlined the interplay between key food, land, and water policies in Odisha, focusing on the NPS initiative. It detailed the goals, policy selection process, and analytical framework for stakeholder engagement. Notable convergence programs like Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA), Odisha Millet Mission (OMM), Canal Lining and System Rehabilitation Programme (CLSRP), and Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture (OIIPCRA) were highlighted for their lessons in policy coherence.

Recommendations include emphasizing outcome-based impact evaluation, incorporating climate change resilience, and evaluating policies holistically using indicators like irrigation efficiency and farmers’ income. Efforts to promote convergence in marketing, value addition, and coordination with fisheries and horticulture policies were also emphasized.

Sharing reflections on the study, Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha said that Odisha’s policies pertaining to food, land and water have the potential to contribute to achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals. “These policies also have the potential to jointly contribute to achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals on poverty reduction, creating livelihoods, and jobs in addition to ensuring water and food security”, he said.

“The state government has invested in an array of initiatives for raising farmer welfare on a sustained and sustainable basis. The food, Land, Water, and Energy nexus system is to be integrated with suitable policy space that will strengthen and sustain the agricultural production system as well as climate resilient with science and evidence-based initiatives, Dr. Padhee said.

He also added that the department is keen to collaborate with research institutes working on this front.

According to Dr. Alok Sikka, Country Representative of IWMI India, “Odisha government’s recent programmes like the Odisha Millet Mission and the Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate-Resilient Agriculture (OIIPCRA), among others show their commitment to an integrated approach to planning in the food, land and water sector policies. The experience from these policies, as highlighted in this study, can provide important lessons on improving policy coherence and better convergence not only in Odisha but in other states as well. Increasing farmers’ income and enhancing climate resilience would require providing farmers with a suite of interventions, including a focus on climate-smart agricultural practices, improved irrigation access, increased resource use efficiency, more investment in processing and marketing, an increased focus on alternative crops, fisheries, and livestock. Hence, it becomes increasingly important to identify opportunities for increased coordination and convergence in policymaking, as highlighted in this study.”

Nitin Bassi, Senior Programme Lead of CEEW said, “Food, land and water are intricately linked. To avoid any unintended impacts of interventions in one sector on another, the policy process needs integrated planning and implementation with a focus on the outcomes that can lead to income enhancement and sustainable livelihoods. Our analysis of the policies in foo d, land and water sectors and the initial recommendations suggest that the effort by Odisha government to build adaptation and make water and agricultural systems resilient to climate change can be a learning laboratory for other states in India and for many other emerging economies in the world.”

Apart from Dr. Padhee, Dr. Poonam Guha, Chief Executive Officer, Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS), Dr. Rohit Kumar Lenka, Director, Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Odisha and many officials from different departments of the state government were also attended the consultation workshop and shared their feedback on the ongoing study.

The IWMI-CEEW collaborative study identified avenues through which convergence among nine policies on food, land and water systems can be built for advancing poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods, and green jobs. Three important steps to support positive impact are to document the best practices and lessons learned from the policies; enable outcome-based impact evaluation of the policies; and identify the need for capacity building in participatory manner with various stakeholders.

He also added that the department is keen to collaborate with research institutes working on this front.

Authors:

Tanmoy Bhaduri, Communications Consultant, IWMI India

Archisman Mitra, Regional Researcher, International Water Management Institute, Delhi

Garima Taneja, Research Officer, International Water Management Institute, Delhi

This work is part of the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS). CGIAR launched NPS with national and international partners to build policy coherence, respond to policy demands and crises, and integrate policy tools at national and subnational levels in countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CGIAR centers participating in NPS are The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Potato Center (CIP), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and WorldFish. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.  

Photo credit

Tanmoy Bhaduri, Communications Consultant, IWMI India