Extending sustainability certification to Trees outside Forests can turn agroforestry into a livelihood engine. Discuss, with reference to IFWCS.

Trees outside Forests (ToF) are trees outside notified forests, such as those on farms, bunds, hedges, agroforestry plots and private plantations [2]. The Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme (IFWCS), launched by MoEFCC in December 2023, certifies them through third-party audits [1]. This can turn trees on farms into a verified source of income, but only if costs and recognition gaps are addressed.

How ToF certification can drive livelihoods

• Dedicated standard: a ToF standard with 5 criteria, 22 indicators and 76 verifiers covers government, private and agroforestry lands [2].
• Market access: EU Regulation 2023/1115 admits wood only if it is deforestation-free, legal and covered by due diligence [3]. PRAMAAN certification gives farmers traceable proof for such buyers and a route to premium markets [1].
• Chain of Custody: it tracks produce from the farm to the point of sale [2], so a smallholder's timber or bamboo can be sold as a certified product.
• Inclusion: the first PRAMAAN certificates (Sep 2026) went to APFDC and to an individual bamboo farmer linked to the Odisha Bamboo Development Agency [1]. The Minister named women SHGs, NTFP collectors and marginal landholders as intended beneficiaries [1].
• Credibility: audits by NABCB-accredited bodies replace self-declaration [1].

Constraints on the engine

• Compliance cost: a certificate lasts 5 years with yearly surveillance audits, and Chain of Custody records must be kept for at least 5 years [2]. APFDC spreads this cost over 33,000 ha, while a farmer carries it on one small plot [1].
• Recognition gap: the scheme is "benchmarked against" international frameworks [1], but foreign buyers have not yet formally accepted it. Importers must also file their own due-diligence statements [3].
• Representation: the governing council has seats for wood-industry representatives, but none for Gram Sabhas or NTFP collectors [2].
• Slow uptake: only two certificates were issued in nearly three years after launch [1].

Way forward

• Group certification through FPOs/FPCs, sharing one audit across many member farms, as the Minister urged [1].
• Seek mutual recognition with international certification systems.
• Give forest communities seats on the council, and publish figures on certified area and audit costs [2].

Certifying ToF links farm incomes, green trade and conservation. Aggregation, affordable audits and global recognition can make IFWCS a real livelihood engine. This would advance SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 15 (Life on Land) and the goal of doubling farmers' incomes.