Bharat Krishak Samaj and Socratus Corporation ****convened a select group of 24 influential stakeholders for a Wicked Sprint to conceive the MSP for the future. The participants were carefully chosen to represent all viewpoints and stakeholders (Academia, Central and State Governments, Civil Society, Farmer unions, Agribusinesses, Media and Political representatives).
Dates: 27th August- 30th August 2021
Venue: Signature Club Resort, Devanahalli, Bangalore
Table of contents
Across the globe, governments support farmers because of concern for food security. The support is provided through various mechanisms. In India, there is the Minimum Support Price (MSP) declared for 24 crops and a public procurement system that backs it as a price support mechanism. While the system has worked in some ways, there is a recognition that its design, implementation and operations must evolve to serve the current and future needs of farmers, consumers, and the environment.
Thinking about redesigning MSP isn’t just a technical challenge but it needs to consider the politics of food, food inflation, changing dynamics of the centre-state relationship, the emerging role of businesses and subsequent transitional pain of changing policies. For these reasons, the design of the MSP is a classic 'wicked problem' that requires people who hold different viewpoints to go beyond debating and engage in a deeper, respectful exercise of understanding each other to co-create ways forward.
The four days Wicked Sprint was designed to provide the space so that the participants are naturally guided towards opening up their views, aligning with others, making public commitments and then leading from that position of commitment.
Context to MSP and its challenges
In the lead up to the Wicked Sprint, we organized several online consultations with various experts over few months. These included both one on one meetings and group meetings. Three group sessions were held in May and June with more than **31 experts** providing their valuable inputs on the challenges of the current MSP regime and the possible ways forward.
The summary from the discussions so far can be accessed in the link below
Summary of Virtual Consultations
<aside> 💡 A Wicked Sprint is a unique and intense workshop
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