The transition to agroecological farming in Andhra Pradesh was mentioned in last week’s post on Agroecology in the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report, and this week the Global Alliance for the Future of Food has published a report prepared by GIST Impact, detailing the learnings and success of the Andhra Pradesh Community-Managed Natural Farming (“APCNF”) agricultural transformation underway. The report provides a brief background of the growth of agroecology in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, referencing the Zero Budget Natural Farming system which began as a peasant movement that used principles of agroecology to overcome the challenges faced by farmers in debt who had adopted chemical-based farming in the 1960s.
Largest transition in the world
According to the report, the APCNF is the largest transition to agroecological farming in the world, aimed at 6 million farmers and over 60% of the population in the state that are employed in farming. It will impact livelihoods and address nutritional food access, biodiversity loss, water efficiency and pollution. The framework used in the study was The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food Systems, which allows for the links between agricultural methods and human wellbeing to be identified.
Economic, social and health findings
The research reveals that crop diversity, yields and income increased on APCNF farms with crop diversity bearing an average of 4 crops compared to 2.1 crops on other farms. This increased the macronutrient diversity available to these households, that were also identified as consuming higher amounts of fruit and vegetables. Yields of paddy rice, maize, millet and red gram increased by an average of 11% and income increased by an average of 49% which the report notes could be attributed to a 44% reduction on average in fertilisers and pesticides. APCNF farms are also more labour-intensive which increases the demand for rural labour. Villages using chemical-intensive farming methods had the highest health costs and loss of productivity with the health-cost analysis being 26% higher than APCNF farms. Social capital also increased in villages, which considers aspects such as information sharing, collective action, trust and risk reduction.
The benefits emerging from this report confirm that agroecological farming has a significant role in the transformation required to meet the environmental, economic and social challenges that are compounded by climate change.
The full citation of the report is GIST Impact Report,2023. “Natural Farming Through a Wide-Angle Lens: True Cost Accounting Study of Community Managed Natural Farming in Andhra Pradesh, India.” GIST Impact, Switzerland and India. It is available on the Global Alliance for the Future of Food website here.
Sustainable Capabilities 