Is There a Trade-Off between Forest Expansion and Agriculture?

Abstract

Expanding forest areas through afforestation and reforestation is a popular strategy to mitigate climate change. However, the vast land area needed suggests a potentially large trade-off between forest expansion and agriculture. From 2003 to 2010, one of the largest forest expansion programs in India was implemented in Rajasthan state. We estimate the effects of this program on the agricultural sector using two-way fixed effects and synthetic difference-in-differences approaches, finding that it had no impact on the cultivated area in Rajasthan. Moreover, agricultural production and yield increased following the program’s implementation. We discuss implications for afforestation and reforestation as climate mitigation strategies.