WWF India, Laudes Foundation and IDH enter into a collaboration for a regenerative production landscape in Madhya Pradesh, India

WWF India has partnered with Laudes Foundation and IDH to launch a landscape programme entitled ‘Regenerative Production Landscape: People, Nature, Economy’, based on regenerative and restorative farming principles in the state of Madhya Pradesh, starting with  Chhindwara district.
 
The partnership will support a locally-driven, multi-stakeholder governance structure to drive market transformation  by bringing together companies that commit to sourcing responsibly, community and producer organisations for more inclusive decision-making, government institutions that enable sustainable and green growth and  investors  who seek scalable solutions that deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. 
 
Over the last five years, Laudes Foundation and WWF India have engaged with farmers and farmer groups, private sector and government  in developing farm centric interventions in Madhya Pradesh. IDH  has a track record of convening landscape programmes in 16 countries in Asia, South America and Africa  and catalysing markets and investments for sustainable change at scale. Our vision is to now transition from a farm-centric approach to a contiguous landscape that leverages a diversified cropping system enabling farmer communities to earn a decent livelihood and practice farming that heals the environment.
 
“Conserving natural resources, forests and wildlife is the cornerstone of sustainable development. Forest Agriculture Mosaics that exist in biodiversity-rich areas such as in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh should be effectively managed through sustainable agriculture practices, strengthening of market linkages and support to farmers to develop economically viable agriculture practices. This platform allows various stakeholders to come together to contribute to a regenerative production landscape and strengthening farmer resiliency to shocks in the future” Says Dr. Vidya Soundarajan, Director, Ecological Footprint at WWF India.
 
“For a transition to a just and regenerative economy it is important for all stakeholders, producers, businesses, governments, investors and donors to act as agents of change. Learning from such initiatives will help transition our global initiatives to landscapes and mainstream these sustainable approaches. We believe for system level shifts to happen, business as usual will just not cut it.”says Anita Chester, Head of Materials at Laudes Foundation.

The programme is an innovative jurisdictional model that will foster agricultural ecosystems  where: 

• producers grow agri-commodities using natural and regenerative farming principles that restore natural resources and reduce emissions from farming systems
• smallholder farmers and communities thrive through improved economic stability, enhanced livelihoods and greater participation in decision making
• businesses are able to source responsibly while creating inclusive supply chain relationships

IDH will bring its Production, Protection and Inclusion integrated landscape approach to the region for long term development. “ We strongly believe in the proposition of this approach – investing in sustainable production, improving smallholder livelihoods, growing the economy and in return, managing our natural resources sustainably. It is a partnership between the business, community and the government – and one that is locally owned and locally driven. Our plans and approaches start from a vision that sustainable impact will only last when there is a viable business case for farmers, as well as infusion of investment that drives the supply chains -  traders, buyers – in moving sustainability from niche to norm. We are excited about this partnership, to collectively drive transformation in Madhya Pradesh” says Pramit Chanda, Country Director – India, at IDH.    
  
Chhindwara -  the implementation district
This phase will be implemented in  Sausar and Mohkhed blocks of  Chhindwara district. The region is ecologically sensitive and is at a great risk of biodiversity and habitat loss. Major crops grown  here include cotton, soybean and maize. Other crops include fruits (orange, mango and guava) and spices ( turmeric,  chilli and black pepper). Working in the region would focus on supporting the smallholder farmers in transitioning towards sustainable farming through capacity development and creating a market value for sustainable produce, while also have a positive impact on the region’s ecology.