Chhindwara district located in the Satpura range of the Central Indian Highlands is spread over an area of 1,181,500 Hectares in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Overlapping an ecologically sensitive area, Chhindwara lies adjacent to some of country's oldest nature reserves which are strongholds of biodiversity and ecossytesm services. Its forests and agriculture mosaics sustain some of the most excluded and marginal indegenous communities as well.

The district is divided into 11 development blocks and the Chhindwara Compact focuses on three of theses viz. Sausar, Pandhurna and Mohkhed. The Compact builds on the legacy work on cotton value chains initiated by Laudes Foundation and WWF-India with other local partners and aims to develop a Landscape approach. This approach aims to catayse a transition towards an year-round and cross commodity engagement to build a business case for inclusion of smallholders in service delivery and sourcing via a self-sustaining ecosystem.