CGIAR Initiative: Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia <p class="ql-align-justify">Home to one-quarter of humanity — one-fifth of whom are youth – South Asia has the world’s largest concentration of poverty and malnutrition.<sup>[i]</sup> The Green Revolution positioned South Asia to produce one-quarter of the world's consumed food,<strong> </strong>but<strong> the region’s agrifood systems today face formidable poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental health and biodiversity challenges. Significant hurdles remain to securing an adequate and affordable supply of diverse foods necessary for sustainable healthy diets (SHDs)</strong>.<sup>[ii]</sup> Social, economic, and geographic inequalities create barriers from production to consumption, disproportionately affecting the poor.[iii] Unhealthy food consumption is rising, with many nutritious foods too costly for the poor.<sup>[iv]</sup></p><p class="ql-align-justify">South Asia’s predominantly rice-based farming systems span the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP).<sup>[v]</sup> While crucial to food security and political and economic stability<strong>,</strong><sup><strong>[vi]</strong></sup><strong> </strong><strong style="color: black;">parts of the IGP are threatened by unsustainable groundwater withdrawal</strong><span style="color: black;"> — the region extracts one-quarter of global groundwater — due to food and energy policy distortions.</span><sup>[vii]</sup> <strong>Natural resource degradation, low resource use efficiency, and agriculturally-based nonpoint</strong> <strong>source air pollution undermine sustainability and human health</strong>.<sup>[viii]</sup> South Asia’s farmers are both contributors to and victims of <strong>climate change and extreme weather.</strong><sup>[ix]</sup> In association with off-farm employment opportunities, these issues contribute to <strong>rural out-migration </strong>— particularly of youth — resulting in rising labor scarcity and increased production costs. This in turn <strong>disproportionately affects resource-poor and women farmers</strong>.<sup>[x]</sup> Outside of the highly-productive ‘breadbasket’ of the western IGP, many farmers suffer from weak markets, poor access to extension, limited access to irrigation, and insufficient policy support.<sup>[xi]</sup> These issues contribute to nearly<strong> 22 million hectares being fallowed </strong>across South Asia following the harvest of the monsoon-season rice crop,<sup>[xii]</sup>&nbsp;indicative of a significant missed opportunity sustainable intensification and diversified farm production. </p><p class="ql-align-justify">Many of South Asia’s agricultural policies and the research systems supporting them focus primarily on the production and related value chains of single crops in isolation, with less emphasis on developing an evidence base around the <strong>multisectoral farm, market, and policy interventions</strong> needed to sustainably intensify and diversify farming systems equitably without overstepping environmental boundaries.<sup>[xiii]</sup> Although agriculturally-focused nutrition interventions are frequently proposed to improve diets in rural communities, causal linkages between farm production and nutrition are not always direct, underscoring the <strong>need for integrated approaches considering household food production alongside market purchase</strong>.<sup>[xiv]</sup> In addition, <strong>poor nutrition awareness</strong> among rural households, low affordability of nutritious diets and <strong>limitations to women’s empowerment</strong> interact to prevent progress.<sup>[xv]</sup></p><p class="ql-align-justify">These obstacles must be overcome through<strong> coordinated efforts to transform agrifood systems in ways that ensure that people can equitably access and consume healthy diets produced within environmental boundaries, while also securing livelihoods</strong> and reducing poverty.<sup>[xvi]</sup> <strong>Food systems are urgently needed that generate profits and incentivize farmers to produce nutritious foods, while also reducing prices for consumers purchasing healthy products by shortening and reducing inefficiencies within value chains</strong>.<sup>[xvii]</sup> These objectives — which are also governmental and donor priorities in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, and Pakistan — require <strong>coordinated research and action across the public and private sector</strong>.<sup>[xviii]</sup> In response, TAFSSA will partner across sectors to generate <strong>actionable evidence spanning the production-to-consumption continuum</strong>. TAFSSA <strong>will also amplify the effects of other CGIAR Initiatives</strong> working in South Asia to <strong>achieve productive, environmentally sound agrifood systems that support equitable access to SHDs</strong>. <span style="color: black;">(</span><em style="color: black;">Additional references and supporting evidence can be found online in </em><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/gje6of3nsrax06q/ANNEX%202.1.pdf?dl=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Annex 2.1</em></a><span style="color: black;">)</span></p>