Context

• Green-Ag, a project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF), which aims to catalyze sustainable transformation of Indian agriculture without compromising the country’s food security and farmers’ income, was launched in Mizoram.

Key Details

• Mizoram is among five Indian states where the project will be implemented.
• The other four states are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.
• Regions of Implementation-Madhya Pradesh: Chambal Landscape, Odisha: Similipal Landscape, Rajasthan: Desert National Park Landscape, Uttarakhand: Corbett-Rajaji Landscape
• The project will be implemented in Dampa Tiger Reserve in west Mizoram’s Mamit district and Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary in Lunglei district in southern part of the State covering more than 30 villages.
• The project will serve its purpose in catalyzing sustainable transformation of the agricultural sector whereby providing economic upliftment to the people of the focus area with awareness on conservation of IUCN endangered species and critically vulnerable flora and fauna.
• The project aims to catalyze a transformative change of India’s agricultural sector to support the achievement of national and global environmental benefits and conservation of critical biodiversity and forest landscapes.
• The project seeks to mainstream biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable land management objectives and practices into Indian agriculture.
• The project is designed to achieve multiple global environmental benefits in at least 1.8 million hectares (ha) of land in five landscapes, with mixed land use systems. It aims to bring at least 104,070 ha of farms under sustainable land and water management.
• The project will also ensure 49 million Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) sequestered or reduced through sustainable land use and agricultural practices.

Back to Basics

The Green-Ag project

• The Green-Ag project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through its sixth funding cycle.
• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) is the national executing agency.
• FAO is the designated GEF Implementing Agency.
• The Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is the GEF Operational Focal Point and coordinates all GEF projects in the country.

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

• established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems.
• unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.
• provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, sustainable cities.
• although not linked formally to the Montreal Protocolon Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MP), supports implementation of the Protocol in countries with economies in transition.

The GEF also serves as financial mechanism for the following conventions:

• Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD)
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC)
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants(POPs)
• Minamata Convention on Mercury