Save Soil Remembers Suicide of Thousands of Indian Farmers at COP29
Indian farmers’ protest in 2021. X/ @AJEnglish
November 19, 2024 Hour: 11:37 am
Agrarian reforms remain an issue in India, where thousands of farmers camped for nearly 15 months at New Delhi’s borders.
On Tuesday, Praveena Srindhar, the director of Science and Technology at the NGO Save Soil, recalled that over 11o,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide due to bank debts and crop failures.
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“Over the last ten years, around 112,000 farmers have taken their own lives in India, and regenerative agriculture could help them overcome their crushing debt and poverty,” she said during the United Nations Climate Summit (COP29), held in Baku.
At least 78 leaders from non-governmental organizations worldwide, including the Egyptian organization SEKEM, are proposing measures at COP29 to stabilize the agricultural sector. This proposal aims to preserve vital ecosystems at a time when 40 percent of the world’s land surface is already degraded, and it is projected that up to 90 percent of the soil’s top layer could be at risk of deterioration by 2050.
The NGOs also presented other initiatives, such as facilitating farmers’ access to climate finance for regenerative practices, increasing funds to transform agricultural soils into carbon sinks, and improving support infrastructure like training and market access.
Increasingly frequent and widespread droughts, heat waves, and flooding during monsoon seasons are climate challenges that make agriculture an extremely risky and unprofitable activity for farmers. These conditions inhibit the growth of biological soil crusts, explained the Indian scientist.
“The main reason farmers commit suicide in India is the failure of their crops. When production fails to yield results, the frustration is immense, and the lack of returns justifying their planting efforts adds to their despair,” Srindhar said, adding that climate financing would cover many unavoidable and challenging expenses, such as purchasing new equipment or different types of seeds.
“It’s a significant expense, which is why we strongly advocate for financial support. Farmers risk all their effort to cultivate soil crusts, hoping the market will reward them. When that doesn’t happen, many are left contemplating ending their lives,” Srindhar pointed out.
Currently, the farming community accounts for 15 percent of all suicides in India, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Agrarian reforms remain a persistent issue in this South Asian country. Between 2020 and 2021, thousands of farmers camped for nearly 15 months at the borders of New Delhi, demanding the implementation of minimum prices for certain crops.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
