This May, the month of his 61^st birthday, Paul is heading to Alaska to climb Mount Denali (also called McKinley). Denali is the highest mountain in North America, making it one of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains of each continent.

Due to its far northern latitude and abrupt changes in weather conditions,Denalipromises to be Paul’s coldest and most challenging expedition to date. We wish him all the best and once again, we are supremely grateful for his support for TREE AID.

Over the past eight years, Paul has undertaken various mountain expeditions, reaching the summits of Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe and Aconcagua in South America as well as completing the GR20 in Corsica. In the process, he has raised a fabulous £12,000 for TREE AID.

The additional £15,000 he is aiming to raise with his Denali climb will support hundreds of children in 12 schools across Northern Ghana to learn how to plant and raise trees in and around their school grounds. Not only will the children learn how to care for their local environment as part of their school work, their families will also learn how to sell the tree produce to earn an income. Even small amounts of money can mean the difference between starvation and survival for families here. Sale of products like honey and organic mango means families can buy staple crops and pay for medicines, while their landscapes also thrive.

In this harsh area of Northern Ghana where almost 30% of children under 5 are suffering from malnutrition, Paul’s support for the Community Self Reliance project will make a lasting difference for generations to come.

Huge thanks again to Paul, please support him generously:

http://www.justgiving.com/paulclimbsdenali

There is a link below to a tracker where you can watch their progress with satellite imagery! 

http://www.roachfords.net/default.aspx?tabid=82

This reflects TREE AID’s ‘two for one’ philosophy of environmental protection and poverty and therefore alleviation. This philosophy is backed up by commentary from ICRAF scientists that indicate:

Promoting tree cultivation in smallholdings has the potential to help address a range of challenges facing agriculture in Africa, including low farm productivity, forest and biodiversity loss, climate change caused by humans, and restricted fuel availability, while at the same time contributing to the nutrition of many rural and urban people and bringing significant revenues to smallholders… According to the ICRAF study, smallholders involved in the ‘Food for Progress’ project in Cameroon, increased their income from the sale of locally selected fruits, and from selling nursery stock of trees to other growers. Around 50 percent of the farmers involved in this project included more indigenous fruits in their own diet, having a direct impact on their nutrition.

The article also indicates that “Tenure is a major problem …” and that “without land ownership, people simply don’t plant trees.  Instead, farmers tend to focus on short cropping cycles that are often deleterious to long-term soil fertility and biodiversity,’…

This illustrates the real need for communities to gain the support they need to get secure and legal access to their land and their trees. This is an area TREE AID is gaining significant recognition for in Burkina Faso and beyond, most recently hosting the Forest Dialogue on this issue in Burkina Faso – and being asked to talk about this element of our work at other events in the US and Indonesia.

To read the full article that is quoted above click here

Following a recent trip to Mali, Canadian food scientist Massimo Marcone has suggested that people there fortify their diets by eating protein-rich leaves from the drumstick and monkey bread tree, alternative names for moringa and baobab trees respectively.

Through our projects in the Sahel, TREE AID has long promoted the leaves and fruit of these trees as an excellent means for communities to diversify their diets and bridge the ‘hunger gap’, the seasonal period of scarcity between harvests. It is excellent to see further confirmation of the benefits of tree foods coming from within the scientific community.

Marcone, of the University of Guelph, is now back in Canada and is carrying out further studies on samples of leaves he collected in Mali. He hopes to determine to what extent the environment in which the leaves grow has an impact on their nutritional value. We look forward to hearing more on his findings in the near future.

Read the full story in the Winnipeg Free Press here

Click here to view the Spring Update Magazine (PDF 3,984KB)

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The worst affected country is currently Niger, where 1.9 million people already face starvation, a figure which could rise to 3.5 million by next month as the situation deteriorates.

Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on Monday 26 March, Save the Children CEO Justin Forsyth described Niger’s desperate situation. He contrasted it with Burkina Faso where communities are faring better in spite of very difficult circumstances. He referred particularly to the importance of water harvesting, soil protection and re-greening activities in Burkina Faso, all work which occurs through TREE AID’s various projects in the country.

The importance of tree foods was underlined by Justin Forsyth when he described the importance of wild fruits and leaves that many people in Niger are now relying upon to survive.

TREE AID is planning to expand its work into Niger in the coming months. As the country continues to be crippled by cyclical drought, our work has huge potential to breathe new life into its agricultural land and to bring food and nutritional security when times are hard.

Philip Goodwin, TREE AID CEO said “Clearly there is an immediate need for the current emergency response but without long-term solutions like those offered by TREE AID, the dreadful situation sweeping Africa’s drylands risks becoming a yearly event.”

Listen to the full interview here

We are monitoring the situation closely and will report on any updates we receive.

Since the 1990s Malihas been known for being one of the most stable democracies in west Africa. Captian Amadou Haya Sanogo, who is emerging as the leader, appeared on Malian TV to announce an immediate curfew and appeal for calm after hours of gunfire overnight in the capital,Bamako.

For more news on the situation please visit the Guardian website 

World Water Day (22^nd March) provides the perfect opportunity for an update on the early stages of TREE AID’s first River Trees project in the Bongo District of Northern Ghana – and the impact that it will have for communities living there.

A big problem in Bongo over the past few years has been the gradual collapse of the river banks and the drying out of the rivers themselves. This causes immense problems for communities as it leads to flash flooding and crops being washed away during the rainy season.

Our response

We supported the designation of a 40m swath of land from each river bank as the ‘riparian protection zone’.  This means, in the first 10m of land from each bank, all possible steps will be taken to restore full vegetation cover – with no cultivation or tree-cutting possible in this area.

The next 30m strip of land from the river banks will be then be allocated to controlled farming, with the strategic planting of trees and shrubs to increase the water retention and fertility of the soil.

In February, to support Bongo’s communities in tree-planting activities, TREE AID’s Ouagadougou-based field trainer visited the district to lead a one-week training session on tree nursery management.

The communities chose 30 volunteers from five villages across the district to participate in the course. These volunteers, half of them men and half of them women, will have an immensely important role in leading tree seedling production within their own communities as they pass on the valuable knowledge they have obtained from TREE AID.

A reliable water supply

Ensuring a reliable water supply is another very important aspect of the River Trees project.  Moving forwards, TREE AID is considering using weirs on the river as a means to impound water several kilometres upstream for long periods of time.

This would provide accessible pools of water which could be used for watering crops, tree nurseries and orchards. This would also mean that the river banks would remain wet in the dry season, which would boost the regeneration of vegetation on the banks.

TREE AID’s Program DirectorTony Hillis visiting Bongo this month and will be inspecting existing weirs to assess their suitability for the Bongo project.

Thanks

All of our work in Bongo District is being supported by invaluable scientific data from RPS group, our long-term corporate partner which has very kindly chosen to support this project with £250,000 of funding over three years along with very extensive technical support.

RPS staff have show a real commitment in assisting with baseline surveys and have given practical guidance towards the erosion risk mapping and for the land cover, land-use and biodiversity baseline mapping.

“We are very excited about the potential impact of the Bongo River Trees project. It promises to firm up the district’s degraded river banks and breathe new life into its exhausted agricultural land. Local communities will reap huge rewards in terms of better crops from more fertile soil and food and income-generating produce which will be harvested from the trees which are planted,” Philip Goodwin, Chief Executive, TREE AID.

For women surviving on the edge of theSaharadesert where TREE AID works, life is extremely hard.

Already one of the toughest places on earth to survive, deforestation, climate change and environmental degradation have now made life even harder – with countries such asBurkina FasoandMaliexpecting severe food shortages this Spring.

At times like this it is the women that bear the burden of feeding their families.  They are therefore particularly vulnerable to famine.

We know mum’s understand how tough it must be not to be able to feed their children, making a gift from TREE AID this Mother’s Day all the more meaningful.

Trees provide an essential lifeline in the form of food, shelter, a future for their environment and a vital cash income.   They literally can mean the difference between life and death.

Paulina Akadekumi explains the deep impact that planting trees has had for women in her village:

“Women that have joined this project have become different from the rest.   We can now take good care of our families. We can afford to send our children to school. We can feed the family throughout the year.  And we are able to make regular savings to grow our businesses in the future.”

“Being part of this project is like raising a child; a time comes when he/she is grown enough to be weaned into an independent life.  We understand very well that with time this project will end … and when it does we will be self-supporting.”

It costs just £10 to plant and nurture a tree such as the baobab, shea or mango inAfrica, with each tree providing its own particular benefits:

• Grow a baobab tree: This iconic African Tree can help women keep their children healthy.  Its fruit adds valuable vitamins and proteins to their diets, whilst other parts, such as leaves and bark, can be used to treat fevers and malaria.
• Grow a shea tree: In Africa, shea butter is known as ‘Women’s gold’.  In demand in local and national markets for its moisturising qualities, perfect for cosmetics and soap, it is giving poor women opportunities to generate a much needed income – and the confidence to set up small, but potentially lucrative, businesses.
• Grow a mango tree: The mango fruit is not just delicious and nutritious, it can also be dried to provide an ‘at hand’ source of energy throughout the year – and an easy to store product for generating income when times get tough.

This Mother’s Day start something really exciting.  Grow a tree in the name of a loved one and help African mothers alleviate their family’s poverty for good.

For every ‘Grow a … tree’ purchased, your loved one will receive a card and a certificate stating that your gift will help to provide communities in Africa’s drylands with the trees they need to build a brighter future.

Click here to purchase your gift today.

This International Women’s Day, Julia Paulson, TREE AID’s Programme Officer, recalls one of the many inspirational women she met on her first trip to Ghana – a woman who not only inspired Julia to strive to achieve more in her day to day life, but also many women in her own community.

I recently met a fantastic woman called Amina Musa – a woman who has overcome great odds to become a successful businesswoman and a shining example of what can be achieved with just a little help.

She is savvy, hard working and incredibly funny – a combination that has struck gold for her and her community.

Amina always understood the value of shea nuts and made a small income selling them.  She was also very aware that others were reaping the rewards of her labour.  Unsurprisingly she felt ripped off by the ‘middle men’ who bought the nuts from them.

As soon as she heard about the TREE AID project Amina signed up to it. She saw beyond the daily struggle of feeding her family and understood the long term benefits of the knowledge that TREE AID could provide her.

With training in business skills and market understanding, Amina is now leading a shea enterprise group in her village and motivating other women to get involved.

The extra income made from shea nuts and products such as shea butter, known as Women’s Gold inWest Africa, has quite literally transformed the lives of women in her village.

They no longer need to undertake hard labour,  their children’s school fees can be paid, they are able to purchase health insurance and medicines, and they can now feed their family throughout the year.

Speaking to Amina, I realised the deep impact our project has had on her community and their livelihoods.  I also feel privileged to have had the opportunity to see, first hand, the vital role women are playing in making change happen inAfrica.

I’ll leave you with some of Amina’s words. I hope you are inspired too.

“Now us women have had the chance to eliminate the middle man we are making much more money. We know when to sell, when to buy and when to store nuts so that we get the best profit.  Women have always been responsible for feeding families. So having women involved in and leading these businesses is why there has been a very positive change in our community. Now we have our own money and we can choose how we would like to spend it. This is not usual in our culture.”

This International Women’s day help support our Village Tree Enterprise work and purchase a “Grow a Shea Tree” gift from our catalogue.

Thank you.