INSTITUTIONS FOR FOOD SECURITY: GLOBAL INSIGHTS FROM RURAL INDIA
This Australian Research Council Discovery Project is concerned with how vulnerable rural populations in the developing world are navigating the global food crisis. Between 2006 and 2008, global progress in combating world hunger stalled. World food prices increased by 71.4% and an additional 115 million people joined the ranks of the undernourished. This is a human tragedy which has fuelled political and economic turmoil across many countries. India has 28% of the world’s hungry, and is an increasingly important economic and political partner to Australia. The project involves a team of Australian researchers working with Indian counterparts to develop a framework that explains what causes risk and resilience to food insecurity, and offers practical insights for policy-makers.
The methodology for the project involves an integrated assessment of the ways that food price volatility is affecting livelihood strategies in six strategically targeted study sites in rural India. (See map below) Questionnaire interviews with 100 households per community will establish the food security parameters in each case study site. This will be followed by strategic assessment of how the institutional arrangements for food security in each community intersect with food outcomes at the household level.
RESEARCHERS
Australian-based team
- Assoc Prof Bill Pritchard, Economic Geographer, University of Sydney
- Assoc Prof Anu Rammohan, Economist, University of Western Australia
- Assoc Prof Jay Bandaralage, Economist, Griffith University
Indian-based team
- Assoc Prof Madhushree Sekher and
- Prof S. Parasuraman
Both from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Project funded by:
