Agroforestry for Sustaining Industrial Raw Materials: Experience from a Value Chain Leveraged Consortium Model

Abstract

Agroforestry has received increasing attention by the agroindustry and forestry industry, private farmers and policy makers due to the increasing demand for wood and wood products coupled with declining supply from natural forests. This necessitated promotion of technology-based agroforestry to create self-reliance in raw material security besides catering to the needs of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Considering these developments into account, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in India conceived a value chain based on industrial agroforestry model and successfully implemented with increased participation of all stakeholders. This model has identified wide range of challenges and constraints along with research gaps that existed in the entire production to consumption system and resolved them through technological, organizational and marketing interventions. The establishment of a consortium of industrial agroforestry has created an institutional mechanism to address all the challenges and helped in establishing over 80,000 ha of value chain-based agroforestry plantations. To strengthen these developments, an exclusive agroforestry business incubator was established, and it is creating business enterprises in the form of start-ups and MSMEs, thereby leveraging technology-based agroforestry business enterprise development. The value chain model has made significant impact in terms of productivity (wood production: 25 m3 ha−1 year−1), profitability (B:C ratio of over 3:1), income and employment generation activities (over 300 men days per ha) and increased carbon sequestration (four million tonnes CO2 equivalent). This value chain model is very unique and successful, which extends a greater scope of replication not only within the country but across the world as well.