In this opinion piece, Vijay Kumar of - 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 .
