1. The loss in earnings that farmers see due to extreme weather events or erratic seasonality is, by now, accepted as the most widely felt economic impact of climate change. Farmers were the first people to feel the impacts of climate change, which ultimately affects the country’s overall agricultural output and adds to food inflation. High food prices, in turn, could result in people slashing down consumption, which adversely impacts nutritional security. 2. A significant number of farming households produce food for their own consumption. These households have given birth to an old saying : those who eat their own food are the healthiest. In countries like India, where malnutrition is high and food insecurity is a nagging constant, such households have used the home production system to remain out of this crisis. As studies point out, these households are also protected from market fluctuations, thus ensuring that they can afford healthy food. Obviously, they are not impacted by food inflation either. 3. But there are serious conversations taking place over how climate change-induced extreme weather events would impact such households. We need to understand the link between nutrition intake and household food production, and whether weather fluctuations would have any impact on this. Researchers have analysed village level data from households with their own food production and consumption, and co-related this with the local weather conditions to infer whether there was a correlation. The paper establishes that people growing their own food consume more, thus adding to nutrition levels and attaining overall food security. There was also reduction in child stunting and underweight conditions as well as women achieving a normal body mass index. These trends are more pronounced in remote villages.

1. Untouchable, a charming French comedy about two friends who have almost nothing in common, has been a huge international success. But before the story became a cinematic sensation, how exactly did a rich French aristocrat and an Algerian immigrant with a criminal past become good friends ? Philip and Abdul first met in Paris in 1993 when Philip was looking for a nurse. He was from a very wealthy family. At one time he had been a successful business man, living a life of great luxury. Then he had a terrible paragliding accident and lost the use of his arms and legs. Life in a wheelchair was lonely and boring. Philip was struggling to imagine the future, and he needed practical help with his day-to-day life. 2. Philip interviewed more than 80 people for the job of a nurse. But none of them seemed right. Then he met Abdul, who had quit a life of crime in Algeria and moved to France to look for work. He was lively, intelligent and quick-thinking, with a crazy sense of humour. Philip got on with Abdul immediately, and he offered him the job. The two men didn’t have much in common. Abdul loved pop music, but Philip preferred classical music. Philip loved modern art, but Abdul hated it. Philip’s family was sure that he had made a bad choice. They believed that Philip needed someone much more sensible. Meanwhile, Abdul wasn’t planning on staying in the job for long. 3. However, their working relationship quickly developed into a close friendship. Abdul gave Philip the support he needed. More importantly, his energy and sense of humour brought fun and excitement back into Philip’s life. Abdul helped Philip make trips to other countries. Both of them now live in different countries, each with a wife and family. They keep in touch regularly. All that really matters to their friendship, though, it is their shared love of laughter and adventure.