Your Yogo Mat is Changing Lives
Hello Yogis! It's Jessica, your friendly and bendy CEO of Yogo. As 2024 winds down, I wanted to share the amazing impact your support has made through our Food Trees program. I know updates like this are everywhere, but trust me—this one’s worth your time.
For every yoga mat sold, Yogo funds the planting of a tree plus agriculture training through our phenomenal partner, Trees for the Future (TREES). But these aren’t just any trees—this is agroforestry, a proven (ancient but also new) method of restoring land, creating sustainable food systems, and building long-term incomes for communities.
Here’s how it works: TREES trains farming families to plant and care for trees alongside crops, creating a system that regenerates degraded soils, retains moisture, and produces diverse harvests. Families receive seeds, tools, and five years of hands-on support, ensuring they have the skills and resources to sustain their new farms for generations.
Pictured: Alice Wangu Mwaura stands with her forest garden in Kenya and shows off the seeds she has saved for sale.
Agroforestry is a sustainable, high-impact way to restore land and reduce climate warming pollutants, while also building intensive, highly-productive gardens that restore soil, retain moisture, and co-nourish a variety of healthful and sale-able crops. All of this is done by rural communities for whom the gardens are a source of nourishment and also financial stability.
What's more, TREES does this in a manner that truly brings durable, self-sustaining benefits to the farming family beneficiaries. Trainers are locally-hired, and the gift of supplies, information, support, seeds and other factors are provided over the LONG term (5 years) in such a way that capacity in the community is really built to be self-sustaining.
The program has become extraordinarily successful since we started supporting it in 2014. This year their work was honored with the prestigious United Nations World Restoration Flagship Award! In 2024, across five countries, they are working alongside thousands of farmers to restore degraded land, boost food security, and combat climate change. They have expanded projects into 969 new communities, graduating 7,288 farmers from the Forest Garden program, and made strides in the Voluntary Carbon Market (carbon credits).
When you choose Yogo, you’re part of this ripple effect of change. You are using your powerful purchasing decisions to support healthy, earth-friendly materials that have social impact. That fills me with hope and joy. Now let's hear a beautiful personal story of impact!
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Alice Wangu Mwaura (pictured above) surveys her land and says, “I used to do one or two crops on the land for the whole year. I would start at the beginning of my farm and go down to the river,” she recalls. “At times, I found the harvest would fail. I found it very difficult to make ends meet.”
Today, Alice’s farm looks entirely different. A diverse mix of trees climb into the sky in every direction. Counting the different types of produce is a challenge – every turn reveals a new bed of vegetables or greens. For Alice it’s easier to distinguish what’s growing, because she has planted and cared for all of it.
“I have diversified my farm in a big way. I have spinach, onion, leek, cabbage, zucchini, bananas, nightshade, amaranth. Also, various types of fruits including papaya, avocado, mango, and many others. I’ve also planted a living fence of fodder trees including calliandra, trichandra, mulberry, and many other trees.”
To some the placement of each tree or garden bed may seem random, but to a practiced eye there is an abundance of sustainable farming techniques in use, all thoughtfully done to benefit both land and farmer.
Before establishing her Forest Garden, Alice, like most farmers in the world, was practicing monocrop agriculture. She spent her money on expensive seeds and had just a few chances to make an income each year. Monocrop farmers are encouraged to clear their land of trees and other plant life. They often use chemical pesticides and fertilizers to increase their yields. These chemicals are not just costly for the farmer, they have a steep environmental cost as well.
In fact, agricultural land use is one of the leading causes of land degradation and climate change. What’s more is that these damaging practices are often failing to provide the nutritional and economic value that the farmers themselves are counting on to survive.
“When farmers plant just one or two crops, they have less to eat and sell and they’re degrading their land in the process,” says Stephen Murimi TREES Technician Supervisor for Kiambu. “Forest Gardens address the root causes of hunger, poverty, and land degradation. Farmers like Alice are proof that there is a better way for both people and our planet.”
Farmers are also encouraged to explore additional streams of revenue in their Forest Garden too. Alice learned how to save and store seeds through her training. Now, she has a profitable seed business. She looks forward to passing her knowledge on to others. She has been so successful in her Forest Garden and business ventures that she even hires employees on her farm during planting and harvest seasons. And while she enjoys sharing her knowledge with other farmers who stop by for advice, she says she hopes those who see her success will join the program too.
“Occasionally, because they come to my land, I’m able to offer them advice and they can copy what I’m doing and they appreciate it,” she says. “But… I would encourage them to join TREES to get training and instructions firsthand so that they can get as much knowledge and skills as I have acquired.”
Alice first joined the program in 2016. Today, she has more than 3,000 trees on her property… and she isn’t stopping there.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to plant some trees.”
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Thank you, yogis, for being part of this journey and for helping us make such an incredible impact. Best wishes to you for the new year!
With Gratitude and Hope, Jessica Thompson
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Do you enjoy updates like this? Have praise, feedback or ideas? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us a note on Instagram at @yogo or an email at hello@yogo.net.
Are you on our Insiders Newsletter? Stay tuned in the next week for a giving event where you can plant a tree with just a click, and also our end of year giveaway!