Workshop on Agroforestry for Sustainable Livelihood: Understanding Priorities, Innovative Applied Approaches, Challenges and Opportunities in India

10 Aug, 2022

The importance of agroforestry is being increasingly recognised as a means for increasing farmers’ income and a restoration potential for India’s national and international commitments on sustainable development.

A day long workshop on ‘Agroforestry for Sustainable Livelihood: Understanding Priorities, Innovative Applied Approaches, Challenges and Opportunities in India’ was organized in Bhopal, by the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES) Project of GIZ. This workshop witnessed participation of senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Forest Departments, representatives of KfW and research organisations such as as Central Agroforestry Research Institute (CAFRI) Jhansi, Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI) Jhansi, Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) Bhopal, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Jhansi, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Research University (TNAU) Coimbatore, Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) Bhopal, private entrepreneurs and farmers. The workshop intended to highlight the role of integration of agroforestry in enhancing farmers’ income and increasing risk-bearing capacities.

It was chaired by Mr. Bivash Ranjan (Additional Director General of Forest, MoEF&CC), who in his remarks stressed the need to establish innovative models and an ensured structured market for farmers' produce. He emphasised on the use of innovative tools of Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology for sustainable agroforestry. Dr. Suneesh Buxy (Inspector General of Forest, MoEF&CC) in his inaugural address emphasized on how agroforestry can act as a medium to fulfil India’s international and national commitments on sustainable development.

Subsequently, Mr. Anjani Acharya, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) Projects, Uttar Pradesh Forest Department (UPFD) underlined the importance of an all-inclusive policy (planting material, incentives, insurance, and compensation) for sustainable agroforestry. Mr. Atul Jain, APCCF R&D Madhya Pradesh Forest Department (MPFD), in his keynote address stated that interventions of the FES Project can support in location specific participatory agroforestry models to be implemented. Mr. Pushkar Singh, PCCF MD MPFD focused on the need for implementing economically suitable and viable agroforestry models. This was followed by technical presentations made by officials of various research organisations on Natural Resource Management (NRM) and agroforestry, successful models & their economic importance. Private entrepreneurs also shared key highlights on successful concepts, scopes, and convergence opportunities for their business models of agroforestry.

Key recommendations from the workshop comprised of:

• Sustainable innovations, value chain opportunities, and public-private sector opportunities should be explored to make a transformational impact of agroforestry on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, especially women farmers
• The use of digital platforms like blockchain technologies can contribute to strengthening agroforestry value chains and avail transparent price discovery systems
• The need of the hour is to promote agroforestry using a farmer cluster approach and link their produce to a structured market forming backward forward linkages
• A comprehensive strategy framework to upscale agroforestry at district level should be developed and linked with one district one product
• The use of innovative tools such as drones for pastureland and grasslands for large scale rejuvenation
• Potential of bamboo in climate resilient cropping, domestic use and as a substitute for wood is very high, however market linkages and quality planting material must be ensured

Photos Credits: GIZ

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About the project

Integrating the lessons from HP-FES, a follow-up project on ‘Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES)’ is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, State Forest Departments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and GIZ India on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It aims to strengthen forest and agroforest management to integrate the Forest Ecosystem Services approach with a focus on water availability. Read More

For more information contact: biodiv.india@giz.de