Transform Rural India Foundation and Intellecap launch Climate Action platform with support of Jharkhand State Government to enable smallholder farmers– Follow the Regional Coverage

Platform will enable smallholder farmers with additional resources and knowledge to undertake climate change mitigation and adaptation activities by leveraging climate and carbon finance

Intellecap and Transform Rural India Foundation (TRIF) announced the launch of a Climate Action Platform with the support of the Jharkhand State Government on the 13th of Dec at Hotel Chanakya, BNR Ranchi.

The platform, launched by Anish Kumar, MD, TRIF and Santosh Kr. Singh, MD – Agri and Climate, Intellecap, will enable smallholder farmers from the state to leverage climate/carbon finance for agriculture and allied sectors and develop their technical skills through a capacity-building program. The platform will provide support and training to smallholder farmers for climate smart agriculture and agro-forestry.

The Climate Action platform was launched during an exclusive workshop, where keynote addresses were made by Senior State Govt. officials, Senior Leaders from Intellecap and TRIF, and attended by the farmer organizations, academic and research organizations, NGOs, Agtechs, financiers, to create awareness about climate-resilient agriculture and the role to be played by the Intellecap-TRIF platform.

The platform, launched by Anish Kumar, MD, TRIF and Santosh Kr. Singh, MD – Agri and Climate, Intellecap, will enable smallholder farmers from the state to leverage climate/carbon finance for agriculture and allied sectors and develop their technical skills through a capacity-building program. The platform will provide support and training to smallholder farmers for climate smart agriculture and agro-forestry.

The Climate Action platform was launched during an exclusive workshop, where keynote addresses were made by Senior State Govt. officials, Senior Leaders from Intellecap and TRIF, and attended by the farmer organizations, academic and research organizations, NGOs, Agtechs, financiers, to create awareness about climate-resilient agriculture and the role to be played by the Intellecap-TRIF platform.

Smt. B Rajeshwari, IAS, MGNREGA Commissioner, Rural Development Dept., Dr. Shivendra Kumar, Former President, ICAR RCER, Eastern Zone, Jitendra Kumar Singh, IAS, Industry Dept., Sanjeev Kumar, IFS, Sashi Ranjan, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Khunti Jharkhand and Koyel Mandal, Chief of Programs, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation spoke at the event which also had a panel discussion on the impact of climate change on the smallholder farmers of the state and key interventions to undertake climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agri and forestry sector.

The Group was well represented through Santosh Kr Singh, MD, Intellecap who launched the platform and by Sanchayan Chakraborty, Partner, Aavishkaar Capital who spoke about the importance of Climate Finance.

Intellecap and Transform Rural India Foundation (TRIF) have developed the climate action platform to increase farmers’ income and build the resilience of their agricultural practices against different climate change impacts. This initiative will play a key role in empowering smallholder farmers by generating awareness of different types of climate change mitigation projects and their benefits; enhancing the technical capacity to design and implement high-quality projects at scale; supporting and pre-financing projects, improving the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate change through an improved watershed, a cooler microclimate, soil erosion prevention, and enhanced biodiversity, and enabling partnerships with key stakeholder groups. The objective of the workshop was to deliberate on actions that are required at the policy and operational levels to unleash the potential of climate resilient agriculture practices and to explore how additional funding from global voluntary carbon markets can support this.

Speaking on the launch of this platform, Ashok Kumar, Director, Farm Prosperity, Transforming Rural India Foundation said, “At TRIF we are excited about launching this climate action platform with the support of the Jharkhand Govt. which will ensure an increase in income of smallholder farmers as well as support the state’s active role in developing a climate action plan and taking necessary steps to tackle climate change. This platform aims to be the guide and champion of smallholder farmers from Jharkhand for climate/ carbon finance. ”

Santosh K. Singh, Managing Director- Agri and Climate, Intellecap said, “We are committed to increasing smallholder farmers’ income and transitioning them to climate smart agriculture. Climate finance, specifically carbon finance enables this transition to profitable and climate resilient agriculture practices. We also are looking at the ecosystem that is needed for achieving this and the platform works with government agencies, investors and corporates to help smallholder farmers.