From 2001, Shiney has been leading IATP’s advocacy work on the right to water. Since then, she has been active in the campaign that led to the recognition in 2010 of access to safe water as a fundamental human right, and for much of that time, served as the co-chair of the fresh water caucus at the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development. Currently, she works on global initiatives on water governance and food security, focusing on initiatives and investments related to water and climate crises, their implications for food security of smallholder producers, especially women, and possible solutions that emphasize equity, environmental justice and sustainability. She has presented and published extensively on these issues. Shiney was a project team member of the CFS-HLPE report, Water for Food Security and Nutrition (2014-2015). She has over 20 years of experience in public policy analysis, and prior to this, for many years she organized around social and environmental issues in India with indigenous groups and civil society organizations. She is a member of the Fourth Steering Committee of the U.N. High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (2017-2019).
Q&A: The United Nations agroecology negotiations and Food Systems Summit
By Cecelia Heffron, Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Throughout the CFS process and now leading up to these events, we are building deeper conversations among farmers, NGOs and scientists about the kind of agriculture we want to ensure that food is a human right. Already, many countries are initiating pilot projects to adopt agroecological approaches.
The real value of water
By Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Even when we value embedded water as an economic good, we owe it to ourselves and future generations to treat water in a way that recognizes it first and foremost as invaluable.
Agroecological Transition in Mexico: ANEC’s journey to a Better Farm and Food System
By Zoe VanGelder, Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Many alternatives to industrial agriculture are emerging, and small farmers have been the pioneers of one such alternative: agroecology. The term refers to ecological principles and practices related to various aspects of farming, including soil health, water management, cover crops, crop rotation, biodiversity, natural pest control, and more.
Clean water: One of the First Casualties of Partisan Attacks to Roll Back Regulations
By Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Then the question is: who is interested in the repeal of laws that protect our environment? Who wants corporations to continue their pollution? Certainly not local communities who use the local waters.
Drinking water and Democracy: Tale of Two Cities
By Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
The tragic situation in Flint is in many ways a cautionary tale of democracy subverted, one that ties directly to the United States’ refusal to recognize basic human rights such as the right to water.
Scaling up agroecology: A tool for policy
By Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Even when they are convinced that agroecological approaches are the way forward, governments, funders and policy makers are challenged by the question of how to move forward.
The global water grab
By Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Writing in National Geographic in December 2012 about “small-scale irrigation techniques with simple buckets, affordable pumps, drip lines, and other equipment” that “are enabling farm families to weather dry seasons, raise yields, diversify their crops, and lift themselves out of poverty” water expert Sandra Postel of the Global Water Policy Project cautioned against reckless land and water-related investments in Africa. “[U]nless African governments and foreign interests lend support to these farmer-driven initiatives, rather than undermine them through land and water deals that benefit large-scale, commercial schemes, the best opportunity in decades for societal advancement in the region will be squandered.”