Poor Indian farmers plant money trees
29-7-2008 | Other news
"This would not have been possible without the support of the Rabo Foundation," says Dr Masabathula Satyanarayana, the spiritual father of a project helping poor Indian farmers earn a living and reduce greenhouse gases.
Dr Satyanarayana initiated a project with Rabo Foundation and the VEDA MACS organisation in India to help 2,800 small underprivileged farmers in the regions of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
These farmers were in a hopeless situation, but were given the opportunity to plant trees that absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) on their infertile, exhausted fields. One year after planting the trees, the farmers can sell the emission rights.
How it works
In order to facilitate this, their local lobbying association, named the Farmers Association for Carbon Trading, entered into an agreement with the the World Bank BioCarbon Fund. Based on the agreement, the Farmers Association for Carbon Trading sells the first 650,000 emission rights for US $3 - $4 to the World Bank. One emission right is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
After seven years, the farmers may then cut down their trees and sell them to the paper industry. While the trees are growing and still small enough not to block out too much sunlight, they can plant new trees and grow other crops on this land.
Serving seven aims
The Indian project spans an area of approximately 3,500 hectares and serves seven aims at once. Dr Satyanarayana said, "It provides unemployed farmers with work, ensures that their fields are once again cultivated and prevents further deterioration and erosion. It also contributes to safeguarding the water supply and biodiversity and reduces the level of CO2."
Since the project was launched in 2004, the farmers have already planted many hectares of trees and sold the related CO2 emission rights. A proportion of these emission rights were sold to the World Bank and the remainder were sold on the free market.
The project is now self-supporting and, as a result, it will no longer be necessary for the Rabo Foundation to provide financial support after this year.