Debate on food and nutrition security is increasingly moving from a techno-managerial approach to human rights frameworks. While availability, accessibility and stability form the triads to ensure household level food security, there are host of other issues related to cultural, social and economic factors that govern the entire food economy. Historically, apart from family production, governments had major role in food supply for ensuring household level food security. However, increasingly, market led solutions are sought to be harnessed in order to ensure food security at the household level. At the macro level, policies related to agriculture development and trade also play crucial role in determining the trajectory of food security of countries. Private sector participation at the intersections of agriculture production, post-harvest value addition, seeds and technology and distribution, etc. are captured in this 30 page booklet "Investing in Food Security", which identifies 12 interesting areas for investment in order to address food security issues.

This booklet brings out rationale, situation analysis, possible intervention (through public and private investments) strategies in the areas of - agro-processing, storage and food safety, sustainable and intensive production processes, farm inputs including fertilizer, food safety measures, securing food future production through irrigation, mechanization for agriculture development, development of national seed systems, linking agriculture to nutritional security, livestock (meat) production and consumption, small-scale dairying and controlling trans-boundary animal disease for economic development-in order to ensure food security. It demonstrates that, investments in these aspects by public and private sectors would augment agriculture production, diversification, employment and ultimately household food security. What is distinctive is that it attempts to provide regional forecasts of market investment potential in these areas.

There are certain cross cutting prerequisites for harnessing the potential of investments in agriculture and allied activities outlined above. Public policy need to be focused on technology and R&D, rural infrastructure development including connectivity, creation and development of markets and market intelligence, human resource development, entrepreneurship development, credit and financial services and finally institutions and governance mechanisms. An important dimension in this respect would be learning from experiences elsewhere and adaptation to the conditions and stage of economic development of countries. This is where technical assistance and support from multilateral agencies like FAO and its technical wings become critical.

There is also a need, however, to address some of the structural features related to agriculture and rural societies in most developing countries. While landlessness is a perennial issue of vulnerability and marginalization for millions of poor in most developing countries, dispossession and alienation of land (for industrialization) is increasingly becoming an issue of concern for millions of poor and subsistence farmers in most countries of South Asia and Africa wherein agriculture is a way of life! Apart from this, introduction of genetically modified seeds is still controversial in the context of the existence and notions of sustainable agriculture. These are some of the issues that need to be addressed for sustainability of agriculture.

While the 12 themes of the booklet are laudable, the inter-relationships need to be explored and enunciated further and be contextualized for different regions. For example, interlocking of markets is still a phenomenon in South Asian agriculture, where in credit, input and product markets remained in the clutches of exploitative intermediaries. Formal market penetration is slow and remained at the periphery even with the advancement of technology and communications. Similarly agriculture extension services are almost defunct in many countries. In such contexts, to what extent market based solutions for sustainable agriculture and food security needs to be elaborated.

What comes out as a central message from the booklet is that regulation and governance play important role in determining the efficacy and efficiency of market based interventions with respect to agriculture development and rural transformation and concomitant food security. While the role of the government is important as a regulator, it is also important to create mechanisms of community-led governance systems for effective and efficient interventions, be it in the form of co-operatives like seed and user groups for irrigation management, for extension services and contract farming.

One important dimension that the booklet acknowledges is that of nutrition security which would mean greater role for secondary crops, contrast to emphasis on rice and wheat based production. Thus, there is a need to address issues of technology, extension services and market interventions in terms of remunerative prices for these crops, implying greater government interventions as private market players may not be best to address such issues of balanced production especially among smallholders. Similarly premium for sustainable agriculture, through organic farming or integrated pest management would also require substantial facilitation by non-market actors. That market based solutions and PPPs have some limitations vis-à-vis promoting goals of sustainable agriculture and food security, needs to be recognized.

Reviewed by Mr. C. Upendranadh, Senior Fellow, Regional Co-ordinator, Social Protection in Asia Research Programme, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi, India.