Green-Ag: Transforming Indian agriculture for global environmental benefits and the conservation of critical biodiversity and forest landscapes (FSP)

Strategic Objective 2: Make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable

Objectives: The project aims to catalyze transformative change for India’s agricultural sector to support achievement of national and global environmental benefits and conserve critical biodiversity and forest landscapes. The project will be delivered through four Outcomes under two Project Components. Component 1: Strengthening the enabling framework and institutional structures to mainstream Biodiversity (BD), Sustainable Land Management (SLM), Climate Change Mitigation (CCM) and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) policies, priorities and practices into India’s agricultural sector. Component 2: Improved agricultural and conservation practices demonstrating sustainable production, resilient livelihood advancements, habitat improvements and delivery of tangible BD, LD, CCM, and SFM benefits.

Description: This project aims to mainstream biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable land management objectives and practices into the Indian agricultural sector. Harmonized multi-sectoral approaches to mainstreaming environmental and resilience considerations into agriculture and landuse are being implemented at five landscapes in five States of India: in i) Madhya Pradesh, ii) Mizoram, iii) Odisha, iv) Rajasthan and v) Uttarakhand. The landscapes selected in these States are anchored around at least one protected area that has significant biodiversity of global importance, as well as value for LD, CCM and SFM, and provides key ecosystem services. Within these ecologically important “Green Landscapes” GEF’s incremental investment serves to catalyse the alignment of the much larger government, donor and private sector investments to promote and incentivize wide adoption of new agroecological practices to reverse the negative impacts of current unsustainable agriculture and land use policies, plans and practices, to maximize multiple global environmental benefits (biodiversity, sustainable land management, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and maintenance of high conservation value forests).

The long-term aim of this project is to replicate the Green Landscape approach nationally, and around other protected areas and critical landscapes. By doing this, the GoI will help to ensure long term integrity of existing protected areas and secure critical ecosystem services that underpin sustainable agriculture. This approach would make protected areas, surrounding agro-ecosystems and associated landscapes more resilient to climate change impacts. The project is also expected to help secure buffer zones and corridors around and between protected areas. Healthy, functioning ecosystem services, including better water provision and soil fertility, will also provide positive incentives for communities, and help ensure long-term sustainability of agriculture.

Donor: Global Environment Facility

Expected Outputs:

• National and state level institutional, policy and programme frameworks strengthened to integrate environmental priorities into the agriculture sector to enhance delivery of global environmental benefits (GEB) and resilience across landscapes of highest conservation concern.
• Cross-sectoral knowledge management and decision-making systems at national and state levels to support development and implementation of agro-ecological approaches at landscape levels that deliver global environmental benefits as well as socioeconomic benefits enhanced
• Institutional frameworks, mechanisms and capacities at District and Village levels to support decision-making and stakeholder participation in Green Landscape planning and management strengthened, with Green Landscape Management Plans developed and under implementation for target landscapes
• Households and communities able and incentivized to engage in agro-ecological practices that deliver meaningful GEB at the landscape level in target high conservation priority landscapes

Project Website: Click here

Project information on the GEF website: Click here