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Drylands in this country constitute more than 70% of the cultivable lands and despite several odds stacked against them, produce about 42% of the country’s food. Nearly 83 per cent of sorghum, 81 per cent of pulses and 90 per cent of oilseeds grown in the country come from these areas. Drylands are home to an enormous wealth of agro-biodiversity. The adaptability and resilience of the dryland livelihood systems are well noted. CSA believes that one of the biggest mistakes that agriculture planners have made in this country is the neglect of dryland agriculture. Worse, dryland agriculture’s problems are viewed only in the context of intensive agriculture (the Green Revolution model of “high-response” seeds, external inputs of fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides etc.) and therefore, solutions prescribed in a faulty manner. We believe that dryland agriculture has to be looked at with a lens that appreciates the pre-conditions of constraints and strengths of drylands. CSA, along with sister organisations like WASSAN has been trying to articulate a distinct dryland agriculture policy for the country, a policy that recognises the frame conditions that exist in these areas and a policy that draws from several successful innovations and traditions from the ground.