Bid to promote agroforestry in Assam

Agriforestry Assam
Assam forest minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and others during the event in Guwahati on June 24

A stakeholders’ consultation for agroforestry promotion in Assam was held at the Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati with the objective to understand the needs and challenges in the promotion of agroforestry in Assam and to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices in the sector.

Minister for the environment and forest Chandra Mohan Patowary attended the inaugural session of the state’s first-of-its-kind multi-stakeholder consultation workshop on agroforestry which took place on June 24.

Patowary stressed on preparing a proper roadmap for the promotion of the method in Assam. He also urged representatives from the industrial sector to come up with agroforestry-based plans so that forest fringe communities and farmers can also be benefitted. He assured that the government will make necessary policy changes wherever needed to ensure the benefit of all the stakeholders.

The minister asked the forest department to do research work in coordination with Assam Agricultural University to address issues like ecological imbalance and climate change among others as well as to resolve human-animal conflict in the state.

The one-day consultation workshop was organized by the Assam Agroforestry Development Board in collaboration with the Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation (APFBC).

APFBC is a statewide conservation initiative between the state government and ‘Agence Française de Développement’ (AFD), which focuses on promoting alternative livelihoods through initiatives such as agroforestry.

The additional chief secretary of the department of environment and forest Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government has prioritized agroforestry as one of the key activities in the state and hoped that the workshop would be able to draw some kind of roadmap to meet the challenges and issues in this sector.

The consultation workshop brought together key stakeholders of the agroforestry sector, such as the government, representatives from the industrial sector, forest-fringe villagers, joint forest management committees and research institutions, and it facilitated the exchange of knowledge and best practices.

Women representatives from local forest management committees also participated in good numbers. Several technical sessions were held as part of the consultation workshop.

Additional principal chief conservator of the forest who is also the project director of Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Society KSPV Pavan Kumar delivered the welcome address in the inaugural session.

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