Farmers For Forests

Why We Invest: 

Modern farming has helped feed India, but it’s left soils depleted, groundwater drained, and biodiversity in decline. The right agroforestry—integrating native trees within farms—can reverse these trends. But the transition to growing diverse trees is tough for farmers who can’t afford to wait years to generate income from them.

Farmers for Forests (F4F) bridges this gap by tapping into carbon financing to fund the transition. They provide farmers with native tree saplings, training, and subsidized inputs while paying cash transfers to sustain them through the first four years. F4F monitors the farmland with revolutionary drone technology that records tree species, health, and growth. With this data they can verify carbon sequestration and unlock further payments to farmers.

F4F has already seen improved incomes and biodiversity from its earliest farmers. With a model poised for profitability, they’re about to secure some large-scale carbon deals with some big partners which will pay for carbon credits up front. They’re also working on simplifying the training and advisory for farmers. The dream is an app where farmers can get all their inputs, training, and cash. We’re confident in their ability to figure out a scalable model for biodiverse agroforestry.