{"683952":{"#nid":"683952","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Forest Expansion Increases Agricultural Output, New Study Shows","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAgriculture is the largest cause of deforestation. So, it follows that forest expansion efforts would displace agriculture \u2014 but \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/le.uwpress.org\/content\/101\/3\/304\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003Enew research\u003C\/a\u003E from Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003ESchool of Economics\u003C\/a\u003E reports that that\u2019s not necessarily the case. And not only that, forest expansion actually increased agricultural output in the study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese findings can help governments, policymakers, and conservation organizations more accurately assess the costs and benefits of forest expansion projects in the fight against climate change.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe key policy implication is that there may be co-benefits to using forest expansion as a tool to sequester carbon,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/matthew-oliver\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003EMatthew E. Oliver,\u003C\/a\u003E associate professor at the School of Economics and co-author on the paper. Without accounting for them, the net social benefits may be significantly underestimated, the researchers write.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe findings could also suggest alternative paths for aid organizations, Oliver said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDevelopment programs don\u2019t have to be in the form of direct aid. This project was about increasing forest areas, but it also supported the local economy in another indirect way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMain Findings\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe paper, written by Oliver and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/dylan-brewer\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003EDylan Brewer\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vikrantkkamble.com\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003EVikrant K. Kamble\u003C\/a\u003E at Muskingum University, was published in \u003Cem\u003ELand Economics.\u003C\/em\u003E The project began as Kamble\u2019s Ph.D. dissertation, on which Oliver and Brewer co-advised. They find:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EFollowing one of the largest forest expansion programs in Rajasthan, India, agricultural production in the area increased by 24% in the seven to 14 years after planting.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe researchers hypothesize this could be due to increased pollinator activity in the newly forested areas and the 2% increase in rainfall they measured.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWhile the 2% increase is statistically insignificant, yields for crops relying on rainfall grew considerably while yields for crops relying on irrigation did not, suggesting a connection between forest expansion, rainfall, and improved agricultural outputs.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is some of the first evidence of its kind, and the researchers caution that the results may not hold true everywhere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, \u201cour task was to rule out a negative impact on agriculture, and the fact that we\u0027re not seeing that and that there could be a positive impact is really strong evidence that we don\u0027t see a reverse trade-off,\u201d Brewer said. \u201cWhen you go back and reforest, it\u0027s not going to eat into agricultural resources.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u201cIs There a Tradeoff between Forest Expansion and Agriculture?\u201d was published in \u003C\/em\u003ELand Economics\u003Cem\u003E in August 2025. Read more at \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3368\/le.101.3.022924-0020R\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.3368\/le.101.3.022924-0020R\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAgriculture is the largest cause of deforestation. So, it follows that forest expansion efforts would displace agriculture \u2014 but new research from Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Economics reports that that\u2019s not necessarily the case. And not only that, forest expansion actually increased agricultural output in the study.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Agriculture is the largest cause of deforestation. So, it follows that forest expansion efforts would displace agriculture \u2014 but new research from Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Economics reports that that\u2019s not necessarily the case."}],"uid":"35766","created_gmt":"2025-08-19 17:37:27","changed_gmt":"2025-08-22 14:09:22","author":"dminardi3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677738":{"id":"677738","type":"image","title":"Untitled-design--71-.jpg","body":null,"created":"1755625773","gmt_created":"2025-08-19 17:49:33","changed":"1755625773","gmt_changed":"2025-08-19 17:49:33","alt":"stock image of people planting trees in a forest ","file":{"fid":"261672","name":"Untitled-design--71-.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/19\/Untitled-design--71-.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/19\/Untitled-design--71-.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1189146,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/08\/19\/Untitled-design--71-.jpg?itok=DdhGqLGP"}}},"media_ids":["677738"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1282","name":"School of Economics"}],"categories":[{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"140711","name":"environmental economics"},{"id":"602","name":"economics"},{"id":"7546","name":"forest"},{"id":"669","name":"agriculture"},{"id":"2998","name":"India"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:dminardi3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EDi Minardi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["dminardi3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}