Khetee is a non-profit organisation situated in the Indian state of Bihar and working with the local community to restore the dry and degraded land in the region. Excessive use of chemicals to produce food is the main cause of the degradation, along with deforestation and a former masonry construction site on the land. Khetee’s vision is to restore the ecosystem and generate livelihoods for people in the community. Regenerative Agroforestry is needed to ensure long-term and highly sustainable solutions for ecosystem restoration, to increase local biodiversity of species, and to address some of the challenges faced by local farmers. Khetee currently runs a one-year fellowship program where women and youths are learning Regenerative Agroforestry practices through implementing and managing agroforestry on the land.

Bihar is India’s third most populous state has the lowest recorded per capita income in the country. Lakhisarai district in Bihar is a semi-arid zone that has seen worse consequences than climate change. It has been degraded by the continuous usage of fertilizers and pesticides. Erratic weather has affected farming in this region which leads to poverty, migration, food insecurity, unemployment and disappearance of livestock that have affected ecosystems negatively and over the decades it has now become challenging for local communities’ development as well as the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity is becoming increasingly tough. Khetee aims to change this and restore the ecosystem and empower the local community by implementing Regenerative Agroforestry across available barren lands in Bihar.