ABSTRACT
Throughout the history of human existence, food and water have held centre stage in the development of civilizations. India, the second most populous country in the world, must provide food security to more than a billion people under challenging conditions, and while meeting the export demand. The country recorded an overall economic growth rate of 8 per cent from 2007 to 2012, despite the global recession (Gulati et al ., 2012 ). However, during the same period the agriculture sector underperformed with a growth rate of only 2.8 per cent. The agriculture sector is fundamental to India’s economy. Over 55 per cent of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and agriculture contributes about 18 per cent of the country’s GDP (GoI, 2013 ). More than 80 per cent of farm holdings in India are less than 2 hectares and more than 60 per cent of farmers operate on less than 1 hectare (GoI, 2007 ). Hence, any underperformance in agriculture will impact the livelihoods of millions of rural households in the country. The various agricultural development strategies adopted by the government since the 1950s have no doubt contributed to agricultural growth and food production at the macro level, but without signifi cantly improving nutrition or reducing poverty at the household level. Estimates show that 22 per cent of the population in India is still undernourished (FAO, 2011 ). Throughout the world, India has the highest number of children suff ering from malnutrition. Hence, there is a clear disconnect between economic growth, agricultural performance and food security indicators. According to Sen ( 1981 , 2009 ), lack of entitlements and poverty are some of the main reasons for hunger and malnutrition in India. Social and economic institutional arrangements in India largely determine an individual’s access to food and nutritional security (Pritchard et al ., 2014 ).
