Mainstreaming agroforestry for Atmanirbhar Bharat

The Covid-19 pandemic is a game-changer of sorts. For India, it became evident in the form of the largest reverse migration, unhinging cities from their habitual labour participation while sharply boosting rural employment. Neither was a surprise, especially after the rapid pumping of liquidity into the rural sector – the latest being the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana (GKRY), a Rs 50,000-crore relief package for the six states that received the maximum number of returnees. With an extra Rs 40,000 crore resourced into its well-matured sibling, the MGNREGS, the 125 days of the GKRY envisions immediate employment of 67 lakh migrant workers in public works including roads, sanitation complexes and water conservation activities. Kickstarting the ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the GKRY is about a month old, getting its operational designs and priorities sorted. In the interest of swift implementation, the contemporaneity of the scheme and the monsoon prompts a focus on ‘green’ tasks – plantation, compensatory afforestation, and horticulture – nudging infrastructure projects away. How can we leverage this opportunity to avert a surge in unimaginative tree plantation programmes often displacing food crops and appropriating ecological commons? Answers lie in reorienting afforestation to ‘agroforestation’ in building back and going resilient

Agroforestry is the technique of maintaining trees on farmlands, practiced worldwide. Appropriate tree-crop combinations and their synergistic interactions optimise farm productivity in highly fragmented tropical landholdings. When crops fail, tree products such as timber, fruits, fodder, and fuelwood help supplement income, acting as safety nets for farmers. Factoring in major global goods and services including habitat patches for wild species, water cycle regulation, soil protection, and climate impact mitigation, agroforestation is a win-win for people and planet.

In 2014, India became the first country to adopt a National Agroforestry Policy, with the goal of expanding areas under agroforestry for enhancing agricultural productivity and rural subsistence. Subsequently, the rationale of the policy has been enunciated in the context of reducing import dependence of raw materials for wood-based industries and achieving the national tree-cover target of 33%, steering India’s efforts to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes by 2030 as Intended Nationally Determined Contribution under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Thus, a significant bolstering of tree growth on farmlands is imperative sooner than later. However, what we learn from looking around is that the explicit policy focus on timber productivity and carbon sequestration fast-tracks ‘fast-wood’ forestry, often of exotic species including Eucalyptus and Casuarina. Groundwater-sucking monocultures dubbed as carbon farms, in place of native trees that serve fuel, fodder, fertiliser, and fiber needs of the community, could be the perverse local consequences. The Covid-driven massive rural influx of human and financial resources coincident with the monsoon is the opportunity to reimagine ‘Green India’ via well-calibrated diverse agroforestation.

Taking Cinderella
to the ball

So, what to keep in mind during the GKRY-facilitated tree-plantation? Not all trees are equal. It is crucial to give precedence to locally suited, multipurpose tree species during agroforestation. Duly named ‘Cinderella’ species, native trees are treasure troves of ecological, social and cultural benefits, snubbed by our modern forestry-agriculture programmes in favour of a few fast-growing, quick-buck species. Such Cinderellas exist for each part of India, be it Khejri in Rajasthan, Babul in Central India, or Arjun in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. ‘Investing’ the wide genetic variations of these species into participatory domestication programmes would help propagate their locally optimal varieties. Giving these Cinderellas a fair chance would turn the agro-ecosystems diverse and resilient.

The GKRY proposes skill-mapping of returnee labourers. Skills here imply indigenous knowledge of tree varieties and managing tree-crop combinations, both to be drawn into mapping exercises. Most returnees would have a considerable understanding of the local landscapes, having lived there before migrating and keeping in touch for years. In cases where prolonged absence necessitates reskilling, in situ collectives including experienced locals can enable knowledge-sharing. Mobilisation of women as skilled workforce is equally vital for effective afforestation programmes. Uncountable examples across the world, including Padma Shree Rahibai’s herculean efforts to conserve hundreds of indigenous seeds, are ample proofs that women possess rich traditional knowledge and are more cognizant about domesticating trees rendering dietary supplements, fuelwood, and fodder. The ability of agroforestation programmes to appreciate the plurality of values that diverse stakeholders attribute to trees is a crucial determinant of their success, positively influencing future reforms.

While the GKRY can provide the much needed dose of labour, several other incentives such as secure rights over land and trees, relaxation of restrictive rules on harvest and timber transport, marketing support for tree products and pricing mechanisms accounting for multiple ecosystem services are critical to make agroforestry appealing to individual farmers. If the scheme indeed succeeds in the retention of a considerable fraction of rural workforce as it hopes to, subsequent scaffoldings can perpetuate greening of India’s rural employment. The self-sufficiency of rural livelihoods is intertwined with the multi-functionality and resilience of landscapes themselves. If agroforestry is the path to sustainable landscapes and livelihoods, it is the path to atmanirbhar Bharat.

(Dhanya Bhaskar is a faculty member at School of Development, Azim Premji University; Charuta Kulkarni is an environmental scientist, currently a European Union Marie Curie Fellow)