A sunburned grain Stamps of approval Pockets of gold in ... - adron.sr

Takas/kgRupees/kg60 30FineFine50Coarse25Coarse403020100Apr-06Jul-06Jan-06Oct-06Jan-07Apr-07Sep-07Oct-07Jan-08May-08Jul-08Oct-08DateBangladeshJan-09Apr-09Jul-09Oct-09was designed to investigate the variousadjustments these categories of farmershave to make with regard to foodconsumption and expenditures, and onandoff-farm activities, in response torising rice prices.Our survey showed that most farmersare aware that rice prices have gone upin the last year, but only the marginaland landless laborers with large familiesseem to have been affected by such priceincreases. Farmers who produce enoughrice for their own consumption seem tohave not been affected by the recent pricerise. This includes farmers of all typeswhose own production is large enoughto meet their year-round needs. In thosevillages, marginal and landless laborers,who fall below the poverty line, are alsonot affected by higher prices because riceand wheat were heavily subsidized by thePublic Distribution System (PDS). Veryfew landless laborers with large families,who needed more than the monthlyallotment of 35 kilograms of grains (riceand wheat) from the PDS, seem to havebeen affected by higher rice prices. Allof those who said they buy rice fromthe market admitted that they have cutdown their other expenses, including thepurchase of other food items, to maintainrice consumption.Our next stop brought us to a villagein Maharajgang District of Uttar Pradesh,located near the Nepal border.According to the marginal andlandless women laborers with whom wespoke, rising rice prices have severelyaffected their food consumption patternbecause of the nonavailability of PDSgrains. They have spent less on otherfood items such as pulses, meat, andmilk to maintain rice consumption at the20151050Jan-06Jun-06Nov-06Apr-07Sep-07Feb-08Jul-08DateFig. 3. South Asia rice retail prices. Data source: Bangladesh Directorate of Agricultural Marketing.*Average for major Indian markets. Data source: Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation.Jan-10precrisis level. In addition, some of themhave been working extra hours to earnmore and keep their food consumptionpattern unchanged.After this, we headed to the easterncoastal state of Orissa. We stopped at aprogressive village named Nuapada inJajpur District. The story was more orless the same as in the villages in easternUttar Pradesh. People with sufficientland to feed their own family were hardlyaffected by higher rice prices. Thesemarginal and landless laborers withsmall families were protected by thePDS program. These farmers felt the ricecrisis, and their need exceeded the riceobtained from the PDS.This story didn’t change muchduring our visit to a fishing village inKendrapada District and to anothervillage in Khurda District near the capitalcity of Bhubaneswar. The overall picturein India didn’t vary much as we movedacross villages in these two states. ThePDS is definitely acting as a buffer forthe most vulnerable section of societyagainst such price fluctuations.A quick look at BangladeshOn our next stop in neighboringBangladesh, we visited a few villagesin Kishoreganj District of Dhaka,situated in the northeastern region of thecountry. The situation in those villagesappeared to be different from those inIndia. As indicated earlier, rice pricesin the country have been rising in thelast several months after staying underwrap for the first half of 2009. Like thefarmers in India, Bangladeshi farmerswho have enough resources to producesufficient rice for their own consumptionseem to have been unaffected by theRice Today April-June 2010*IndiaDec-08May-09Dec-09crisis. But, small, marginal, and landlesslaborers have started to feel the pinchof rising rice prices. Some familiesobtain 5 kilograms of rice twice a monthat 22 takas (US$0.32) per kilogram,but, for many, the price differentialis too small and the quantity is notenough to meet their needs. Similarto their Indian counterpart, this groupalso overwhelmingly agreed that theirrice consumption has not changeddespite higher prices. However, copingmechanisms differ from person toperson. Some work extra hours to earnadditional income, while others try toreduce their expenses on other items,including high-value food items suchas meat and fish, to keep their riceconsumption unchanged.What have we learned?Generally, a country is not insulatedfrom the happenings in the global ricemarket. Interventions in the domestic andtrade sectors may protect against shorttermfluctuations in world prices but,eventually, the domestic market will beinfluenced by global price changes. In thecase of Bangladesh and India, domesticretail prices are higher than prices 2years ago despite several measures takenby their respective governments to keepprices low. For these two South Asianneighbors, rice continues to occupy acentral place in the rural food basket. Itis also worrying that price rises have adirect impact on the most vulnerable insociety—marginal farmers and landlesslaborers.Government programs such as thePDS definitely play an important role inprotecting the rural poor against priceescalation, but they do not necessarilycushion everyone from the ill effects.These programs, although important fromthe national food security perspective, aresignificant burdens on government coffersand may not be effective if the system isnot clean. These programs may providetemporary relief against price escalation,but they are not a long-term solution. Thelong-term food security problem can besolved only by keeping rice affordable byexpanding production primarily throughyield improvements.Mr. Pede is a scientist at IRRI’s SocialSciences Division and Ms. Zeiglercurrently works as an intern in the sameoffi ce.45