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By:

Parashram Patil

14 January 2026 at 8:49:45 pm

Crops of Conflict

As water and climate become instruments of geopolitical leverage, India has an opportunity to turn agricultural resilience into a new form of South-South diplomacy. Climate change is making an old truth harder to ignore: food security is national security. As water becomes scarcer, harvests more erratic and trade policies more protectionist, agriculture is moving from the margins of geopolitics to its centre. Nowhere is this clearer than in Africa, where fragile food systems intersect with...

Crops of Conflict

As water and climate become instruments of geopolitical leverage, India has an opportunity to turn agricultural resilience into a new form of South-South diplomacy. Climate change is making an old truth harder to ignore: food security is national security. As water becomes scarcer, harvests more erratic and trade policies more protectionist, agriculture is moving from the margins of geopolitics to its centre. Nowhere is this clearer than in Africa, where fragile food systems intersect with contested rivers, conflict and disrupted supply chains. For India, this presents not merely a humanitarian challenge but an opportunity to practise a more strategic form of food diplomacy. Clear Warning The Nile basin offers the clearest warning. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia depend heavily on the river, directly or indirectly, for agriculture and livelihoods. Egypt obtains roughly 90-95 percent of its water from the Nile, with most of its withdrawals going to agriculture. Wheat, rice, maize and cotton are therefore inseparable from the country's water security. Sudan is similarly dependent on the Main Nile and its Blue and White Nile tributaries for crops including sorghum, wheat, cotton and sugarcane. Ethiopia, by contrast, relies much more heavily on rain-fed agriculture, but the Blue Nile remains crucial to its plans for agricultural and economic expansion. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has transformed this already delicate equation. The Blue Nile supplies roughly 85 percent of the Nile's runoff, giving Ethiopia substantial geographical leverage upstream. Egypt and Sudan, downstream and more dependent on the river, have consequently viewed the dam through the prism of food and water security. The dispute has its roots partly in the 1959 agreement that allocated Nile waters between Egypt and Sudan, but the rise of Ethiopia as a major upstream power has altered the political balance. The stakes are enormous. A disruption to water availability is not simply an environmental problem when millions depend on irrigated agriculture. It can affect food prices, livelihoods, migration and political stability. Across the basin, the consequences potentially extend to hundreds of millions of people. The lesson is straightforward: rivers can become geopolitical infrastructure, and crops can become strategic assets. Critical Role This is where India can play a useful role. Its longstanding diplomatic, commercial and maritime links with Africa give it an established platform. Its experience in producing wheat, rice and millets, meanwhile, gives it something more tangible: the ability to contribute to food-supply resilience. Egypt, for instance, remains heavily dependent on imports and is projected to require around 13 million tonnes of wheat imports to bridge its consumption gap. Sudan’s agricultural crisis is still more acute. Conflict and climate stress have sharply reduced cereal production, leaving output well below recent historical averages. India could therefore build food diplomacy around two complementary tracks. The first is supply. Predictable grain arrangements and strategic food buffers could help vulnerable countries absorb shocks in international markets. The second is technology. India's experience with micro-irrigation, precision farming and water-use efficiency offers tools that may help African farmers produce more with less water. The Per Drop More Crop component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana is one example. Drip irrigation, improved canal management, seepage reduction and precision agriculture cannot resolve a dispute over the Nile, but they can reduce the amount of water required to produce a given crop. For this to become a durable strategy, however, India will need to move beyond individual projects. Bilateral agricultural agreements with African countries could be converted into longer-term trade corridors and grain-supply arrangements. Multilateral platforms, including BRICS, could provide mechanisms for greater transparency in food distribution and market stabilisation. Seed exchanges could focus on drought-tolerant millets, biofortified wheat and heat-resistant maize suited to increasingly volatile climates. Indian private enterprise could be brought into this architecture. Agritech startups and Farmer-Producer Organisations could be encouraged to enter African markets through export-linked grants, incubation programmes and risk-sharing mechanisms. EXIM Bank credit lines and export guarantees could reduce the financial risks of deploying solar cold chains, irrigation systems and agricultural technologies in politically volatile markets. Public-private partnerships could also help Indian firms adapt AI-based crop advisory systems and IoT-enabled water sensors to African soils and farming practices. The larger opportunity is strategic. India’s relationship with Africa need not be confined to trade, infrastructure or diplomatic declarations. Agriculture offers a practical form of South-South cooperation in which food, technology and water efficiency reinforce one another. (The writer is a member of Maharashtra Agriculture Price Commission. Views personal.

Citizens to raise Rs 43 cr for social good at Tata Marathon

Swapnil R Mishra
Jan 15, 2025
2 min read
Tata Marathon

Mumbai: The journey of the Tata Mumbai Marathon has been transformative since its inception and has redefined the health, fitness, and giving paradigm in India …Change Began Here. As we begin the countdown to the landmark 20th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2025, 269 NGOs, corporates, and citizens have collectively raised INR 43 crores to date. Fundraising for the event continues until Wednesday, 5 February 2025.


Spearheaded by United Way Mumbai, the event’s Philanthropy Partner, the Tata Mumbai Marathon has established itself as the country’s single largest sporting platform for philanthropy, raising over Rs 429 crores for 740 NGOs with the support of 600 corporates. This remarkable convergence of runners, donors, NGOs, and corporations continues to drive social change and empower communities nationwide.


George Aikara, CEO, of United Way Mumbai, said: As the Philanthropy Partner since 2009, we’ve seen the marathon evolve into a powerful force for social change. This year’s record-breaking turnout of 13,000 individuals alone running through charity, showcases TMM’s unique ability to inspire and engage.


Already, more than 222 fundraisers have raised over Rs 1 lakh each on the platform, and the average fundraiser has brought in Rs 2 lakh for causes spanning health, education, gender equality, and more. These numbers are a testament to the growing enthusiasm among participants. A special mention to the 6 ‘Change Legends’ – Ms Villy Doctor, Dr Bijal Mehta, Meera Mehta, Sunit Kothari, Shyam Jasani and Utppal Mehta – who have each raised over Rs 1 crore, making a lasting impact.


What’s exciting this year is that we also saw a significant increase in corporate participation, with businesses rallying their teams to fundraise and run together, reflecting the growing trend of companies leveraging the TMM platform to champion social responsibility.”


However, a panel of top fundraisers, NGO leaders, and young philanthropists shared their stories of fundraising and impact. Dr Bijal Mehta, an ophthalmologist and trustee of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care (SRLC), emerged as one of the highest fundraisers, collecting astounding Rs 1.5 crores for the same NGO. Her efforts will support SRLC’s work in making education accessible in rural India and also supporting animal care and health. “The TMM provides us with an incredible platform to reach supporters and turn our vision into reality. Every two years, we’ve been able to create robust infrastructure and oversee more than 75 projects, leveraging this platform to bring about meaningful change,” she said.


Joining her was Shivaprasad Khened, Trustee of ADHAR (An Association of Parents of Mentally Challenged Adults) Home, and also a parent of an adult with intellectual disabilities. Sharing his journey of raising funds for the organisation he added, “Intellectual disabilities, particularly in adults is a cause that’s often misunderstood, and platforms like the TMM help bridge that gap in spreading visibility and awareness of intellectual disability, an area that is still underrepresented in discussions around mental health.”

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