Papers by Sudha Narayanan
The Future Rice Strategy for India
This chapter discusses the preeminent position of rice in India’s food security strategy. In 2014... more This chapter discusses the preeminent position of rice in India’s food security strategy. In 2014–15, the government obtained one-third of all rice produced in the country and allocated 88% of this to various welfare schemes. Many have questioned the virtue of having large schemes that subsidize food, viewing these as leaky, uneconomical systems that impose a burden on the exchequer. This chapter reviews evidence that suggests that the major schemes are well targeted and that recent improvements in delivery have reduced leakages in the system and improved transparency. Several studies also suggest positive impacts on food security for beneficiaries. Although recent policy developments veer toward replacing in-kind support with cash transfers, emerging evidence seems to provide a case for reforming rather than replacing the current system.
American Journal of Agricultural Economics
This paper reviews the Indian state's response to the disruption in agri-food supply chains trigg... more This paper reviews the Indian state's response to the disruption in agri-food supply chains triggered by the lockdown as revealed in notifications pertaining to the agricultural sector. This paper contends that though many notifications and orders did not percolate to State and local-level administrative enforcement mechanisms, the greater problem was the absence of coordination between the Centre and States. Our analysis suggests that State Governments better managed the situation and in tackling many issues pertaining to agri-food supply chains, took action before the Centre did. The Centre's actions were not only a step behind but also largely uncoordinated with State initiatives. This disjunction was not addressed, and the ensuing chaos was therefore unsurprising. This experience highlights the importance of better Centre-State coordination and offers lessons for both future emergencies and structural reform in agriculture.
This piece analyzes the implications of the National Food Security Act for India's commitment... more This piece analyzes the implications of the National Food Security Act for India's commitments under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) in the context of widespread concern that they might be mutually incompatible. [IGIDR WP-2013-026].
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which guarantees employment... more The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which guarantees employment of every rural household for 100 days, has different progressive provisions which incentivise higher participation of women in the programme. Official data suggest that 47 of all MGNREGA workers are women. This paper uses the National Sample Survey for the 68th employment-unemployment round (2011-12) to examine the performance of states in terms of participation and rationing of women in the programme relative to that of men. In addition, it documents these indicators from various sub-populations of women, including widows, mothers of young children, etc. who typically face serious constraints in the context of labour market participation. The study finds substantial variations both across states and sub populations implying the need for a differentiated policy focus across states to support women's access to and participation in the MGNREGA.
Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 2020
Abstract The present study analyses the drivers of agricultural land use in the peri-urban areas ... more Abstract The present study analyses the drivers of agricultural land use in the peri-urban areas of Bangalore, India. The study uses a unique data set on land use, extracted from satellite images, for 1046 villages in the north-west transect of Bangalore City, covering the years 2001, 2005, 2011 and 2015. This dataset was combined with socio-economic variables compiled from various published sources. Linear fixed effects model and non-linear fractional probit model were estimated to analyse the factors influencing the agricultural land and fallow land use in the study area. Our analysis reveals a decline in the proportion of agricultural land and a rise in that of the fallow land. While the built up area has increased, area under water bodies that marked the city’s landscape has shrunken over time. Results of the econometric model show that an increase in population in suburban areas by 1% is associated with a decline in agricultural land by 0.028 ha. The effect of industrialisation on agricultural land diversion was estimated at 0.01 ha. Corollary to these findings, we find that a 1% rise in the level of suburbanisation leads to an increase in the size of fallow land by 0.025 ha and the effect of industrialisation is 0.011 ha. These results imply that there is a need for devising appropriate policy measures for conservation of agricultural land and water bodies and strengthen social safety nets for vulnerable people in the peri-urban areas.
Economic and political weekly
This paper explores the important link between rice trade liberalisation and poverty, seeking spe... more This paper explores the important link between rice trade liberalisation and poverty, seeking specifically to respond to two questions: What would be the effect of freer trade in rice on trade flow patterns? How will rice trade liberalisation and consequent rice price equalisation across countries influence the prevalence of poverty in the poorer economies? In doing so, the paper focuses primarily on Asia.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2010
Supermarkets, specialized wholesalers, and processors and agro-exporters' agricultural value chai... more Supermarkets, specialized wholesalers, and processors and agro-exporters' agricultural value chains have begun to transform the marketing channels into which smallholder farmers sell produce in low-income economies. We develop a conceptual framework through which to study contracting between smallholders and a commodity-processing firm. We then conduct an empirical meta-analysis of agricultural value chains in five countries across three continents (Ghana, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Nicaragua). We document patterns of participation, the welfare gains associated with participation, reasons for non-participation, the significant extent of contract noncompliance, and the considerable dynamism of these value chains, as farmers and firms enter and exit frequently.
World Development, 2012
Supermarkets, specialized wholesalers, processors, and agro-exporters are transforming the market... more Supermarkets, specialized wholesalers, processors, and agro-exporters are transforming the marketing channels into which smallholder farmers sell produce in low-income economies. We develop a conceptual framework with which to study contracting between smallholders and a commodity-processing firm. We then synthesize results from empirical studies of contract farming arrangements in five countries (Ghana, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Nicaragua). The resulting meta-narrative documents patterns of participation, the welfare gains associated with participation, reasons for nonparticipation, the significant extent of contract noncompliance, and the considerable dynamism of these value chains as farmers and firms enter and exit frequently.
Economic and Political Weekly, 1999
The Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), one of the major agreements signed in Marrakesh under the Uru... more The Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), one of the major agreements signed in Marrakesh under the Uruguay Round in April 1994, has three basic clauses; market access tarifficationn), domestic support and export competition. The authors review India's status with regard to each one ...
How do household labor supply decisions change with the entry of a massive employment guarantee p... more How do household labor supply decisions change with the entry of a massive employment guarantee program? This paper explores the household level labor allocation effects – disaggregated by gender, age group, task, and season – associated with India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) as specifically implemented in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Using three rounds of panel household survey data including 3,725 households combined with project administrative records, our results suggest that participation in the MGNREGS prompted an increase in overall household labor supply by about 13 days only in the summer slack labor season, mostly attributed to adult women. This expansion, though, is not large enough to evade “crowding out” of some labor previously offered to non-MGNREGS labor tasks, particularly private casual labor opportunities, and more so in the main agricultural seasons than the summer slack season. Despite overall labor displacement, women a...
The Journal of Development Studies, 2021
Abstract Undernutrition remains a wide spread problem, especially for women and their children. A... more Abstract Undernutrition remains a wide spread problem, especially for women and their children. A wide body of research has identified women’s empowerment as a contributor to nutritional outcomes for children, and, to a lesser extent, for women themselves. Yet, evidence remains mixed, in part reflecting the difficulties of measuring empowerment, in general and as it relates to nutrition. In-depth interviews with women from rural South Asia reveal that women’s ability to achieve adequate nutritional outcomes often encompass factors overlooked in existing empowerment measures. Combining theories of empowerment and drivers of nutrition with rich case studies from Bangladesh and India, we formulate the concept of women’s nutritional empowerment. We then develop a framework, the Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition grid, to measure and operationalise nutritional empowerment. Our contribution addresses the lack of a systematic approach in the use of empowerment measures in the nutrition literature by formalising a nutrition-focused definition of empowerment. Our conceptualisation offers a basis for a range of tools to inform the design and implementation of effective policies aimed at improving nutrition, with a specific focus on rural women.
Economic and political weekly
Broadly half of the huge supposedly agricultural subsidy on fertilisers and power, amounting to m... more Broadly half of the huge supposedly agricultural subsidy on fertilisers and power, amounting to more than Rs 31,000 crore and comprising 2 per cent of GDP, is either going to industry in the case of fertilisers or is simply being stolen by non-agricultural consumers in the case of power. This paper estimates plant-specific domestic resource cost of all urea plants in the country, and aggregate measure of support for selected commodities through power subsidies. It also gives some policy options both for the centre to tackle fertiliser subsidy and to the states to minimise power subsidy.
Rice is the lifeline of almost 70% of the world's poor residing in Asia, where more than 90% ... more Rice is the lifeline of almost 70% of the world's poor residing in Asia, where more than 90% of world rice production and consumption takes place. Rice trade liberalization therefore has tremendous implications for poverty. The world rice market is highly distorted, partly because of the high degree of intervention in rice markets across the world. While poor countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and India tend to “disprotect” rice sectors, the rich countries of East Asia (Japan and Korea), Europe, and the United States heavily support their rice producers. As a result, there is great diversity in domestic rice price levels, with very high prices in the latter countries and very low prices in the former. Trade liberalization would thus result in flows from these poorer Asian countries to East Asia and Europe. This is predicted to have beneficial effects for poverty, through producer price increases and second-round effects (wages, employment, and investment) in exporting countrie...
This paper presents the results of a survey of over 4100 works created under the Mahatma Gandhi N... more This paper presents the results of a survey of over 4100 works created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and over 4800 randomly selected users across 100 villages in 20 districts in Maharashtra. It has two goals: the first was to verify the existence of the assets and the second was to elicit user perceptions of the problems and benefits they associate with the work. The survey indicates that 87 of the works exist and function and over 75 of them are directly or indirectly related to agriculture. A bulk of the rest constitutes rural roads that connect habitations to farms and provides access to agricultural markets. The study also finds that 92 of the randomly selected users paper that their main occupation is farming; half of them are small and marginal farmers, owning less than 1.6 hectares of land. An overwhelming 90 of respondents considered the works very useful or somewhat useful; only 8 felt the works were useless. There is some eviden...
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Papers by Sudha Narayanan