The government launched a Global Environment Facility (GEF) assisted project namely, Green – Ag. in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) during September, 2018.

About Green Ag:

• ‘Green Ag.’ will help in transforming Indian Agriculture for global environmental benefits and the conservation of critical biodiversity and forest landscapes.
• The aim of the project is to mainstream biodiversity, climate change and sustainable land management objectives and practices into Indian agriculture.
• It will also support harmonization between India’s agricultural and environmental sector priorities and investments so that the achievement of national and global environmental benefits can be fully realized without compromising India’s ability to strengthen rural livelihoods and meet its food and nutrition security.
• It started in high-conservation-value landscapes of five States including- Madhya Pradesh: Chambal Landscape, Mizoram: Dampa Landscape, Odisha: Similipal Landscape, Rajasthan: Desert National Park Landscape and Uttarakhand: Corbett.
• Key missions that will be targeted for strengthening include the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture; National Livestock Mission; National Food Security Mission; National Initiative on Climate-resilient Agriculture, National Mission for Horticulture and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

About Global Environment Facility:

• It was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems.
• It provides funding to assist developing countries in meeting the objectives of international environmental conventions.
• It serves as “financial mechanism” to five conventions, which are Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and Minamata Convention on Mercury.
• Today, it is an international partnership of 183 countries, international institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector that addresses global environmental issues.