NITI Aayog and IFPRI Join Forces to Strengthen Policy Frameworks for Agricultural Transformation & Rural Development

In a significant stride towards fostering sustainable agricultural and rural development in India, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) recently inked a pivotal Statement of Intent (SoI). The five-year agreement solidifies a commitment to fortify policy and program frameworks, aligning with India's developmental objectives.

Under the SoI, IFPRI is entrusted with a comprehensive mandate to bolster NITI's Agriculture Vertical in key areas. This collaborative effort includes the development and monitoring of Rural Transformation Indicators, active support in designing and evaluating flagship programs, provision of policy analytical tools, and the generation of evidence on India's agri-food trade within regional and global contexts.

NITI Aayog, committed to ensuring sustainable and inclusive agricultural and rural transformation, has been a guiding force in monitoring and evaluating India's development programs, with a particular emphasis on agriculture. IFPRI, in turn, will provide crucial policy analytics and support to NITI in mutually identified areas, initially focusing on agriculture, rural development, trade, and climate change policies in India.

Dr. Johan Swinnen, IFPRI Director General and Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR, expressed enthusiasm, stating that through the Statement of Intent (SoI), they plan to engage in a broader range of issues related to 'Systems Transformation', building a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure a sustainable food system for the country.

He emphasized that the SoI would serve as a platform to share knowledge and experiences from IFPRI and CGIAR’s global partnerships with various think tanks, research institutes, and centers of excellence. Suman Bery, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, praised the collaboration, emphasizing that agriculture will play a central role in India's development trajectory.

He highlighted the crucial need to increase agriculture productivity, shift towards natural and soil-friendly practices, and underscored the importance of strong rural demand for manufacturing and economic revival, critical for India's transformation over the next 25 years. He highlighted IFPRI's commitment to addressing important issues with methodological rigor, emphasizing that tackling challenges in agriculture, climate change, and trade is a shared responsibility for meaningful cooperation.

Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member of NITI Aayog, expressed optimism about the collaboration, stating that he believes the SoI will lead to collaborative work between NITI Aayog and IFPRI, generating new insights into the role of agriculture in shaping economic development in India and other emerging economies.