In this opinion piece, Vijay Kumar of Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (Farmers’ Empowerment Corporation) - Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, discusses the benefits of their state-wide and community-managed natural farming programme. The programme is described as an innovative and transformative solution for agriculture, comprising of the universal principles of agroecology and local, traditional and context-specific practices.
The investment involved in the transformation to agroecology from conventional synthetic chemicals-based agriculture is for knowledge dissemination, handholding farmers, and for supporting women’s collectives taking lead in the process. Kumar explains how a $1.4 billion investment in transformation efforts results in saving $7.3 billion in avoided subsidies to support agriculture, and suggests that governments and financial institutions should seriously consider this financing mechanism.
Read the full opinion piece from T. Vijay Kumar on medium.com.
