Introduction

Project meeting in Cooch Behar (Tamara)

The Rupantar project team convened in Cooch Behar from the 21st – 24th May for our Annual Review and Planning Meeting. This meeting was very productive, and there was enthusiastic participation from all participants. Dr Eric Huttner and Dr Pratibha Singh from ACIAR attended the meeting. It was excellent to have five team members from Koshi Province, Nepal, join us for the first time, and the activity plans for this location are subsequently well progressed.

We had ample time to discuss the outputs from Objective 1, including the Case Study synthesis. We also heard from local stakeholders, which enriched our understanding of the key messages. This was supported by a first view of some of the baseline survey results which will help to build the context for the project pathway locations. These results will also be valuable as status briefs for each location, and the Nepal team are interested to help them inform provincial planning for diversification. There was also time to progress activities for Objective 2 – planning for pathway implementation in each location. This will be further progressed in a field visit in the second half of August.

In addition to progressing the above activities, we engaged in stimulating discussions around transformation and what it means for Rupantar; gendered elements of diversification options; and ways to monitor change, which were all very valuable in helping frame future project activities. Overall, the project meeting contributed to team building and progressed activities as needed, and the project is in excellent shape to ensure pathway implementation in all locations by the end of 2023 as planned.

Ground truthing our case studies with local stakeholders (Kuhu)

New Publication

How diverse are farming systems on the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia? A multi-metric and multi-country assessment

While crop diversification has many benefits and is a stated government objective across the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia, the complexity of assessment has led to a rather limited understanding on the progress towards, and status of, smallholder crop diversification. Most studies focus on specific commodities or report as part of a singular index, use outdated secondary data, or implement highly localized studies, leading to broad generalisations and a lack of regional comparison. We collected representative primary data with more than 5000 households in 55 communities in Eastern Nepal, West Bengal (India) and Northwest Bangladesh to explore seasonally based diversification experiences and applied novel metrics to understand the nuanced status of farm diversification. While 66 crops were commercially grown across the region, only five crops and three crop families were widely grown (Poaceae, Malvaceae, and Brassicaceae). Non-cereal diversification across the region was limited (1.5 crops per household), though regional differentiation was evident particularly relating to livestock and off-farm activities, highlighting the

importance of cross border studies. In terms of farmer's largest commercial plots, 20% of systems contained only rice, and 57% contained only rice/wheat/maize, with substantial regional diversity present. This raises concerns regarding the extent of commercially oriented high value and non-cereal diversification, alongside opportunities for diversification in the under-diversified pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Future promotional efforts may need to focus particularly on legumes to ensure the future sustainability and viability of farming systems.

A copy of the paper is available here: How diverse are farming systems on the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia? A multi-metric and multi-country assessment - ScienceDirect

Upcoming events

• ACIAR Annual Report 14th August

• Internal project Gender Training August Dates TBC

• Project travel 15 – 29 August (Rangpur, Cooch Behar, Koshi Dates TBC)

• CGIAR Gender Conference, New Delhi (October 9 – 12)