TreeScapes 2026 – Focus on agroforestry 

In a bid to amplify agroforestry’s contribution in India, the Centre for International Forestry Research – International Centre for Research in agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is all set to host TreeScapes, the first South Asian agroforestry & trees outside forests Congress from (5th – 7th) February 2026 at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), Pusa Campus in New Delhi. 

With a vision to establish agroforestry and trees outside forests (TOF) as mainstream and scalable solutions supporting climate-resilient landscapes, sustainable livelihoods, and economic growth across South Asia, the three-day regional congress will bring together policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, civil society, farmers, and youth from across South Asia to exchange knowledge, showcase best practices, and deliberate on innovative solutions to mainstream and scale AF-TOF systems in the South Asian region in the esteemed presence of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, minister of agriculture & farmers welfare, government of India, Madan Prasad Pariyar, minister for agriculture and livestock development, government of Nepal, Ahmed Hassan Didi, minister of state for agriculture and animal welfare, Republic of Maldives, Rao Narbir Singh, minister, environment, forest and wildlife, government of Haryana and other dignitaries.

Speaking on the need for such a Congress, Manoj Dabas, India country director, CIFOR-ICRAF stated, “Tree-based systems account for 19.3% of the country’s carbon stocks and could help abate over 2 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2030. This is just a fraction of the potential. With 86.1% of Indian farmers classified as marginal, unlocking this potential will depend on aligning carbon finance frameworks and policy instruments with India’s fragmented landholdings and locally adapted agroforestry practices. India is already importing more than 7 billion US$ worth of wood and wood-based products from other countries, with a CAGR of 15%. This needs to change. With TreeScapes 2026, we at CIFOR-ICRAF aim to spearhead dialogue on more effective implementation of agro-forestry in India and chart a collective pathway for mainstreaming AF-TOF systems across the region in line with India’s climate and net-zero goals.”

TreeScapes 2026 aims to highlight the policy, regulatory, and institutional gaps related to agroforestry and trees outside forests. Through various panel discussions and thematic sessions, the Congress will facilitate various dialogues on scaling agroforestry and trees outside forests using digital tools, water-secure landscape approaches, and farmer-led innovation while simultaneously deliberating on crucial aspects of financing, certification, and value chains, in addition to climate and ecosystem services, seed and genetic systems, bioeconomy opportunities, and carbon finance mechanisms to make tree-based systems viable at scale across South Asia.

According to The State of Food and Agriculture 2025 (FAO), nearly 1.7 billion people globally live in regions where crop yields are declining due to human-induced land degradation, posing a direct concern to agricultural productivity and food security. In India, agroforestry is emerging as a critical response to this challenge, offering measurable gains for climate mitigation, rural resilience, and farmer incomes. From a South Asian lens, agroforestry has helped reduce deforestation across Southeast Asia by an estimated 250,319 hectares (618,552 acres) per year between 2015 and 2023, preventing between 43.3 million and 74.4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, as per a study published in Nature Sustainability.

The benefits of agroforestry far outweigh its cons, especially where a country like India is concerned. A 9-year study by ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) in Eastern India found in 2025, that one-acre farms under agroforestry sequestered up to 154.5 megagrams (Mg) of carbon dioxide equivalent over nine years, while maintaining food production and generating substantial income for farming families.

TreeScapes 2026 is being organised jointly by CIFOR-ICRAF and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), with the ICAR-Central agroforestry Research Institute (CAFRI), Jhansi, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, as Organising Partners.

The Thematic Partners for TreeScapes 2026 include GIZ, Haryana Forest Development Corporation, ITC Limited, The Nature Conservancy, Intellecap, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Indian Society of agroforestry, and IORA Ecological Solutions. The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) and the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) are the Knowledge Partners in the Congress.

With India’s push towards a green economy in sync with its 2070 net-zero goals buoyed by the country’s reforestation drive (recently driven by Gujarat), TreeScapes 2026 positions itself as a pivotal platform in encouraging further effective implementation of agroforestry as a means of increasing tree cover and improving farmers’ incomes and livelihoods as we move towards a more climate-resilient future.