In this blog post, TCI postdoctoral associate Anaka Aiyar and former communications and outreach manager Jessica Ames present the “technology-plus” approach for dealing with India’s food systems challenges in the midst of climate change, as proposed in the TCI’s book, Transforming Food Systems for a Rising India. In India, as in the rest of the world, climate change…

In this blog post, TCI Scholar Anna David Thottappilly discusses her research on the effectiveness of programs that aim to improve nutrition outcomes through income enhancement. In India, an animal as small as a goat can be a key part of the fight against undernutrition. Many impoverished farming households in the country raise goats and other small…

In this blog post, TCI scholar Vanisha Sharma investigates how farmers in India’s impoverished rural areas are using the internet to boost agricultural productivity. Beginning in 2016, a public-private partnership called Jio laid 250,000 km of fiber optic cable throughout India. It was the start of India’s “internet revolution,” which brought with it extremely low prices, especially…

In this blog post, TCI scholar Shiuli Vanaja discusses her research on how access to clean water at home affects women’s productivity and use of time. Many people don’t give their drinking water a second thought. They simply turn on a tap or open a bottle. Yet, 29% of the global population lives without access to clean,…

In the effort to improve nutrition in developing countries, women’s empowerment in agriculture is a pathway that has gained considerable traction. In smallholder-farming households, the thinking goes that the more that women are empowered to make agriculture-related decisions, the more power they have to choose to grow, buy, and consume diverse, nutritious foods. The Tata-Cornell…

In this blog post, TCI scholar Jocelyn Boiteau details how rising temperatures and unreliable rainfalls are contributing to food loss among India’s tomato farmers. Standing in a lush, green field of tomato plants surrounded by swaying trees and rocky hills, experienced farmer E. Narasimha Naidu points to some white spots on the skins of some of the…

In 2018, the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) and its partner organization, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), began an initiative to create a comprehensive, one-stop shop for data related to India’s food system and beyond. In this blog post, TCI research support specialist Kiera Crowley recounts how she tracked down data and…

In this blog post, TCI scholar Amrutha Jose Pampackal recounts her experiences speaking with members of tribal communities in Odisha, India, about how deforestation and remittances from migrant workers are impacting their diets. It was a Friday morning in July and the Adri market in Thuamul Rampur was bustling with activity as people from more than 10…

Pulses, the edible seeds of plants in the legume family, have tremendous potential to improve nutrition in India and across the world. Yet Indian production of pulses has not been able to keep up with demand. In an op-ed in Financial Express, TCI-TARINA associate research fellow Mamata Pradhan and assistant program officer Ruchira Boss contend that government policy promoting pulses should consider their…

The Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) has partnered with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to develop a comprehensive database featuring information related to India’s food system and beyond. The District-Level Database for Indian Agriculture and Allied Sectors is free and open for all, giving a wide array of stakeholders access to data…