WTO Agriculture Agreement, Common Property Resources and Income Diversification Strategy

In the wake of the dismantling of the quantitative restriction (QR) regimes and the ongoing round of negotiations on the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), India and other like-minded developing countries have been raising fundamental concerns on the likely adverse impact of the AoA on their food and livelihood security systems. Simultaneously, the government of India has also initiated measures for carefully monitoring and regulating the import liberalisation process ushered in by the Exim policy 2001-02. Based on these developments, this paper advocates rigorous negotiation positions and proactive programmes of development in order to address the pressing problems arising from the AoA. Developing countries, whose agrarian economies are characterised by 'ecosystemic multifunctionality', have the scope for providing income diversification opportunities for the weaker sections of the farming communities through development of common property resources. This then could form the best safety net to contain the fallout of the agri-agreement.