325 million people live in the fragile Sahel environment.
At TREE AID we know that poverty limits the choices of poor people and that they are often forced to over-exploit their environment simply to survive.
We work to build a greater understanding of how best to manage natural resources in order to protect and improve the environment, and making the benefits clear.
We do this using sustainable practices that are low cost, locally appropriate and make use of natural processes.
Trees
We work with communities to establish tree nurseries and plant trees that:
- improve the soil
- act as windbreaks
- provide wood for fuel and building
- provide fruits and leaves for food – a more varied diet and greater food security
- provide products with an economic value that can be traded
- provide fodder for animals
- provide natural insecticides.
Communities are taught about how to help land recover from over grazing and tree cutting. They learn how trees act as windbreaks and add nutrients to the soil. What this does is empowers villagers to protect the environment they depend on for survival.
Land
We train farmers in improved agricultural techniques like rock lines and zaï to restore degraded lands, protect the soil from erosion and increase the amount of food crops that farmers produce.
Communities
We support co-operation within and between communities by supporting experience and skills sharing.
One of the best ways to do this is by arranging visits which enable communities to see the benefits of trees and land care – seeing a green village that is winning the fight against the desert is a real inspiration.
We bring communities together to protect their trees and set up groups like bush fire management committies to ensure that their livelihoods are protected.
The benefits
More trees hold back the desert and improve agricultural land, meaning more food crops grow, and families are more secure in having enough to eat throughout the year.
Awiiga Achoanya
Awiiga Achoanya (Above) is 49 and lives with her five children in Kandema-Kanwasa in Ghana.
“I hope that more food from the trees and extra income from their products will mean the young people do not migrate to the cities, and that the village will become a more attractive place to live.“
Awiiga is intending to plant 150 mango, 200 dawadawa and 100 baobab trees and would like to run a commercial tree nursery in the future.
