Is there a trade-off between forest expansion and agriculture? Evidence from India.
| Title: | Is there a trade-off between forest expansion and agriculture? Evidence from India. |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Published In: | Land Economics |
| Description: | Expansion of forest area through afforestation and reforestation is a popular strategy to mitigate climate change. However, the vast land area required suggests a potentially large tradeoff between forest expansion and agriculture. From 2003-2010, one of the largest forest expansion programs in India was implemented in Rajasthan state. Using a yearly, district-level panel from 1991 to 2017, we estimate the effects of this program on the agricultural sector using two-way fixed effects and synthetic difference-in-differences approaches. Perhaps counterintuitively, our findings indicate the program had no impact on cultivated area in Rajasthan, suggesting agriculture was not displaced by forests. We also find robust, statistically significant increases in total agricultural production and yield following the program’s implementation, which may have been partly driven by an increase in local rainfall or other ecosystem services resulting from increased forest cover. We discuss the implications of our findings for afforestation/reforestation as a climate mitigation strategy. |
| Ivan Allen College Contributors: | |
| Citation: | Kamble, V., Brewer D., & Oliver, M.E. (2025). Is there a trade-off between forest expansion and agriculture? Evidence from India. Land Economics. Forthcoming. |
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