A report, titled ‘Land Squeeze’, released by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) underscores a series of unprecedented pressures on global farmland (land squeeze) which are now accelerating and converging.
Dimensions of Land Squeeze in India
- Land degradation and desertification: >70% of its arable land is undergoing land degradation.
- Land concentration: Top 10% landowners own 45% of farmland.
- Land Fragmentation: Average agricultural holdings in India are 1.08 hectares (2015-16).
Steps taken to address land inequality in India
- Land Reforms: Abolition of intermediaries, tenancy reforms, ceiling on land holding size, and land consolidation.
- Joint Forest Management Program: For enhanced access to forest resources & decreased land degradation.
- Voluntary group farming in some Indian states, including Kerala and Telangana, increased women's access to land, providing livelihoods, and empowering them.
Way Forward
- Build integrated land, environmental, and food systems governance to halt green grabs by placing the right to land at the heart of climate governance.
- Cap on farmland investment, giving farmers rights of first refusal on land sales.
- Build public pension and insurance systems to secure farmers’ livelihoods and facilitate managed transfer of land to new farmers.