Dried up livelihoods: The political economy of the "Liberalised Green Revolution" in India

全球数百万小农户的农业收入很低，在气候变化的情况下，这种情况只会恶化。然而，关于如何改善小农成果的政策在文献中一直存在争议。我在读博士时发现，自20世纪80年代以来，发展中国家的政策制定者一直在推动私营部门在投入、信贷、灌溉和推广方面引领农业发展。在粮食安全和经济增长的推动下，政策制定者认为私营部门的商业化增加了贫困地区小农的产量和盈利能力，这些地区的小农在55个国家有15亿人口。为了比较这些农业政策对小农户的目标和结果，我在印度南部干旱易发州特兰加纳进行了为期8个月的实地调查，进行了访谈和家庭调查。特兰加纳是自1990年代印度经济改革以来小农迅速采用私营部门驱动的转基因棉花和地下水灌溉技术的中心。我的研究表明，特兰加纳的小农商业化增加了农民因作物歉收和投资失败而负债，导致农民离开农业作为主要收入。这可以归结为四个解释因素：1）特兰加纳降雨量少，土壤肥力低，干旱严重，这意味着棉花经常歉收，产量低2）农民借贷信贷支付作物投资，但低产量和棉花，地下水短缺使他们无法偿还债务3）市场中介促进和资助环境脆弱地区的棉花种植，使小农的经济成果恶化4）政府退出农业政策，为私营部门驱动的农业发展让路，缺乏对不合适的经济作物采用的监管这些发现详细说明了政策制定者忽视经济，农业政策执行的社会和环境背景。在这个奖学金中，我计划采取四个步骤来增加我的博士研究对学术，非学术和政策受众的影响：首先，我将在印度进行为期一个月的新范围研究，从我的博士论文扩展。我研究了地下水灌溉政策如何以及为什么在不利的环境和经济后果下促进小农经济作物农业。第二，我将利用范围研究写研究申请ESRC，英国科学院和Leverhulme信托。在这项研究中，我研究灌溉政策，气候变化，地下水枯竭和能源补贴在印度的交叉点。第三，我将在领先的地理和发展研究期刊上发表我的博士论文中的三篇期刊文章，关于转基因棉花和地下水灌溉的采用，以及对非农业生计的影响，在贫困和小农印度。这些出版物将通过其在地理和国际发展的跨学科影响，增加我的学术生涯前景。第四，我将通过演讲，视频，博客和政策简报向多个受众传达我的博士研究。在学术界，我将出席在美国，英国和欧洲著名的地理和国际发展会议。为了在网上与受欢迎的观众互动，我将为一个有影响力的学术新闻网站The Conversation撰写文章。最后，在两周的时间里，我将在印度南部特兰加纳的海得拉巴市举办一个研讨会，邀请农业经济学家、农村发展非政府组织和农业政策受众参加。该活动将讨论我对印度旱地小农商业化研究的政策影响，帮助印度政府制定细微的农业政策。这将帮助我在印度建立我的学术和政策网络，以用于未来的研究项目。

Millions of smallholder farmers globally earn low incomes from agriculture, which are only set to worsen under climate change. Policies on how to improve smallholder outcomes however, have been contested in the literature. In my PhD, I found that, since the 1980's, policy makers in developing countries have promoted the private sector to lead agricultural development in inputs, credit, irrigation, and extension provision. Pushed for food security and economic growth, policy makers assumed that private sector commercialisation increased yields and profitability for smallholder farmers in rainfed areas, who numbered 1.5 billion people in 55 countries. To compare the aims and outcomes of these agricultural policies for smallholder farmers, I conducted interviews and household surveys over eight months of fieldwork in Telangana, a drought prone state in south India. Telangana was the epicentre of rapid smallholder adoption of private sector driven genetically modified cotton and groundwater irrigation technologies since the 1990s after economic reforms in India. My research showed that smallholder commercialisation in Telangana increased farmer indebtedness from crop failures and failed investments, causing farmers to leave agriculture as a primary income. This was down to four explanatory factors:1) Low rainfall, soil fertility and drought extremes in Telangana meant cotton saw frequent harvest failures and low yields2) Farmers borrowed credit to pay for crop investments but low yields and cotton, groundwater failures made them unable to repay their debts3) Market intermediaries promoted and financed cotton cultivation in environmentally fragile areas, worsening economic outcomes for smallholder farmers4) Government withdrawal in agricultural policy made way for private sector driven agricultural development, being absent in regulating unsuitable cash crop adoptionThese findings detailed what the consequences of policy makers ignoring the economic, social and environmental context in which agricultural policies are implemented. In this fellowship I plan four steps to increase the impact of my PhD research to academic, non-academic and policy audiences:First, I will conduct new scoping research in India for one month, expanding from my PhD thesis. I examine the politics behind how and why groundwater irrigation policies promote cash crop agriculture in rainfed smallholder areas given the adverse environmental and economic outcomes. Second, I will utilise the scoping study to write research applications to the ESRC, British Academy and Leverhulme Trust. In this research, I study the intersection of irrigation policy, climate change, groundwater depletion and energy subsidies in India.Third, I will publish three journal articles out of my PhD thesis in leading geography and development studies journals, on genetically modified cotton and groundwater irrigation adoption and the effects on non-farm livelihoods in rainfed and smallholder India. These publications will increase my academic career prospects via their interdisciplinary impact in geography and international development. Fourth, I will communicate my PhD research to multiple audiences via presentations, videos, blogs, and policy briefs. Within academia, I will present at prestigious geography and international development conferences in the USA, UK and Europe. To engage with popular audiences online, I will write articles for The Conversation, an influential academic journalism site. Finally, over two weeks, I will present at and organise a workshop inviting agricultural economists, rural development NGOs and agricultural policy audiences in Hyderabad, a city in Telangana, south India. The event will discuss the policy implications of my research on dryland smallholder commercialisation in India, helping to nuance agricultural policies by the Indian government. This will help me build my academic and policy networks in India for future research projects.