Green activists furious as India prepares to join US-led agribusiness initiative: Indian Tribune

tribune news agency

sandeep dikhit

New Delhi, February 23

India plans to join the controversial UAE-US-led coalition called AIM4C, which promotes energy-intensive agriculture and is already fighting in Africa against increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the dominance of agribusiness interests over the voices of local farmers and communities.

On the sidelines of the I2U2 (India, Israel, United States and UAE) Business Forum in Abu Dhabi, Senior Diplomat Dammu Ravi signed a letter expressing the Indian Government’s intention to join the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C).

delhi sign letter

• A senior diplomat signs a letter expressing India’s intention to join the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C)
• Launched in November 2021, AIM4C claims to support “climate-smart agriculture and food system innovation”
• But its alliance with high-profile polluters such as Pepsi shows its reliance on carbon-intensive production methods

Lucrative agribusiness accounts for about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, and a report in Nature says industrialized food production, championed by AIM4C, is more energy-intensive, with nearly one-third of food system emissions coming from energy-related emissions related activities.

According to Anna Maine of the Kenya Association for Biodiversity and Biosafety, more than two-thirds of AIM4C’s 300 partners are based in the US or Europe, and only 7% are in Africa.

“The focus on agricultural technology is often dependent on the profits of multinational corporations and is unsustainable,” she said, proposing viable alternatives for resilient farming in partnership with nature.

AIM4C claims to support “climate-smart agriculture and food system innovation”, but its alliance with high-profile polluters such as PepsiCo and meat producer JBS demonstrates its reliance on carbon-intensive production methods.

Launched in November 2021, the AIM4C program has already invested more than $8 billion globally. “With today’s announcement, India joins more than 275 partners, including 42 governments, who are working together to advance AIM4C’s mission,” said a US government press release.

Ben Williamson and Allie Molinaro of World Farming point out that AIM4C was launched without public input, allowing only government involvement to increase public investment in agricultural innovation, non-government entities increasing self-financed agricultural R&D, and already supporting AIM4C’s goals.