Sustainable Food Systems in the Age of Climate Change: An Agenda for Action Yesterday, agroecology leaders from across India shared on-ground experiences of transforming food systems through farmer-led change. The discussion was exciting, honest, and laid bare structural issues. Here are the key takeaways from the panel: KAVITA Kuruganti (@kkuruganti), Co-Convenor, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHAKisan Swaraj), Bengaluru, Karnataka: Deep structural issues continue to affect food systems. The farmer registry in India is based on land ownership data, excluding tenant farmers—nearly 50 per cent of cultivation in Gujarat is under tenancy—and leaving women farmers unregistered. Narendranath Damodaran, National Anchor, National Coalition for Natural Farming, Delhi: Agroecological transition must be supported through awareness and knowledge sharing, and by creating spaces where farmers and the scientific community can exchange ideas. Ramanjaneyulu G V GV, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad, Telangana: We have to create systems that allow incremental change. A systemic, transformative change is needed for markets and policy to accommodate and facilitate incremental change. In the current states, they are not equipped for that. Rajinder Chaudhary, Advisor, Kudrati Kheti Abhiyaan, Rohtak, Haryana: Available data indicates a decline in overall nutritional composition, with no publicly accessible database for tracking these trends. Umendra Dutt, Executive Director, Kheti Virasat Mission, Faridkot, Punjab reminded us that farming, food consumption, and health are losing their connection to each other. Usha Soolapani, Director, Thanal, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Sustainable food can be a climate action movement for the youth. Madhur Gandhi, Project Coordinator, IFOAM - Organics International pointed out, “we're looking at organic as a destination and not as a direction.” Shirish Joshi, Co-convenor, Consortium of Agroecological Transformations: for self-consumption, farmers don’t need policy support We’re excited for what’s ahead today! Stay tuned for more updates as we keep the momentum going.

Indigenous breeds have a big role to play in improving biodiversity, climate and livelihood. The fifth session of the Sustainable Food Systems Conclave showcased why they must be central to the future of food systems. Here are few highlights from the session: 👉Indigenous breeds can help sustain the economy and ecology of a community together. Registering breeds helps draw attention to valuable marginalised indigenous animals, like camels and donkeys. 👉Every indigenous breed carries not just a DNA, but a cultural code of coexistence with nature. 👉The 20th Livestock Census shows backyard poultry has grown to about 46 per cent. It is emerging as a high yield, low emission, low-risk sustainability option. 👉When science works with nature and policy empowers people, livelihoods, biodiversity, and climate goals reinforce each other.

Session Highlights | Designing Crop Insurance to ensure maximum benefit for farmers in for Climate-Risked times A dynamic panel unpacked one of the biggest challenges in Indian agriculture: How do we ensure farmers actually benefit from crop insurance, especially as climate risks rise? Our expert panel featured: ➡️ Sudhir Kumar Goel, Former Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture and Marketing), Government of Maharashtra ➡️ @subhasheesh, Vice President - Claims, @HDFCERGOGIC, Mumbai, Maharashtra ➡️ Kirankumar Vissa, Co-Founder, @rsv4farmers, Hyderabad, Telangana ➡️ Ashish Gupta, Gram Disha Trust, Himachal Pradesh, ➡️ and, Chaired by @Ajayvirjakhar, Chairperson, @Krishak_Samaj Key recommendations from the discussion 👇 Crop insurance must be part of a larger risk management ecosystem. Comprehensive risk management framework required for Indian agriculture, and not just crop insurance. Micro insurance products can also help. Debt waiver for disaster-affected farmers will be more useful than a blanket loan relief for all farmers; a disaster notification can be the trigger. For multicropping organic farmers, estimated losses for groups of crops that is given in time is better than accurate loss coverage that comes quite late, sometimes a year later. Insurance must provide timely, fair, and accessible support, especially for smallholders who are most vulnerable to extreme weather events.