Bhubaneswar: Trees Outside Forests in India (TOFI) programme was launched jointly by the Odisha government and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the state on Wednesday to expand green cover outside traditional forest in the state to support global climate change mitigation.
It will bring together farmers, companies, and other private institutions to rapidly expand tree coverage outside of traditional forests in the state.
The new initiative will enhance carbon sequestration, support local communities, and strengthen the climate resilience of agriculture, thereby contributing to global climate change mitigation and adaptation goals.
TOFI will build on the state’s progress and harness agroforestry to bolster the resilience of farming systems, while also further increasing the income of farmers in Odisha.
The Odisha Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Pradip Kumar Amat said the TOFI Programme is well placed to supplement and reinforce existing efforts to increase farmer incomes and also make agriculture more climate resilient, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, U.S. Consul General of Hyderabad Jennifer Larson said the United States and India are collaborating across nearly every field of endeavor to improve the lives of peoples.
He said expanding tree cover outside of forest areas will contribute to climate change goals, increasing carbon sequestration as well as farmer incomes.
USAID’s Mission Director to India Veena Reddy said the TOFI will increase the resilience of farming systems and farmer incomes, and enhance economic opportunities in local communities in Odisha.
The Trees Outside Forests in India programme was launched in September 2022 .
The programme will allocate up to USD 25 million U.S. dollars in seven states – Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. The project is beingimplemented in partnership with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF).
