Transforming agricultural systems and strengthening local economies in high biodiversity areas of India through sustainable landscape management and public-private finance To reduce land degradation and conserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, by promoting sustainable agricultural production, supply chains and public- private finance Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency. The integrated project approach recognizes that achieving global environmental and adaptation benefits that will be sustained in the long-term requires local populations –farmers and residents in the micro-landscapes– to realise socioeconomic benefits, especially in the short and medium term.At farm scale, these benefits come through three project interventions. First, the implementation of practices that increase soil nutrients and enhance the soil’s water retention capacity will lead to improved productivity. It is recognized that these benefits will take time to come through. Shorter-term economic benefits from the farm can be derived from crop diversification, which is a feature of both sustainable agricultural systems promoted by the project. The process of sharing technical knowledge and building farmers’ capacity to apply natural solutions to the issues they face on farm is an important benefit in a context of the majority of farmers managing small plots of land, without access to extension services and opportunities to learn the results from alternative approaches to farm management (Output 2.1.1). The project will also harness new technologies that can save time and money for farmers (Output 2.1.2). Farm workers will benefit from a healthier farm environment, and those that work on certified farms will have the additional protection that the Farm Requirements’ Social Chapter of the 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard provides through its criteria on employment terms and conditions. Those criteria align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, relevant ILO conventions, and other multi-stakeholder concepts such as living wage, which has been developed in coordination with the Global Living Wage Coalition[1].Second, the project’s contribution to farmer organization (Output 2.1.3) and insistence on social inclusion will create the conditions for developing improved access to services and markets. An effort (small because of available resources) will be made to upgrade business management skills. Third, the strong focus in the project on market development (Output 3.1.1) will generate preferences and favourable terms in company supply chains to source from the project landscapes.At landscape scale, the benefits would also be social and economic. Community members will be given a voice and an operational structure through which to contribute to the land management plans. The target areas may be forested areas that are under threat and have value for the communities, including, in Karnataka for example, Sacred groves, and watersheds of the Kaveri river and its tributaries. Economically, communities in the micro-landscapes will benefit from innovative sustainable use of natural resources that conserve the resources and also offer employment and income opportunities.It is this process of mobilization of people’s skills, knowledge and interest and channelling them to sustainable land management that achieves the benefits for both the people living in the project landscape and the natural environment on which they depend for their livelihoods. In this way, the project activities will generate GEBs and contribute to climate change mitigation. It will sequester carbon in soils, improve soil organic content through composting, mulching, and cover crops, as well strengthen farm resilience to extreme drought. Sustainable agriculture will reduce pollution due to agrochemicals, including in downstream water bodies, making them more secure for human need.                     [1] https://www.livingwage.org.uk/living-wage-commission