Wastelands Afforestation in Northern India by Cooperatives: A Socio-Economic Evaluation
India has an estimated area of 129 million ha of wasteland, which can be used for providing sustainable livelihood for millions of rural unemployed. An evaluation of enhancing income and employment generation and environmental externalities due to plantations on wastelands through cooperatives and self-help groups was done. The development process was set up in leased degraded lands in three north Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The capacity building processes like savings and micro-enterprise skills empowered resource-poor farmers.