Food Trees - For Climate and Communities
HELPING PEOPLE AND PLANET
With our customers' support, Yogo has planted 50 thousand "forest garden" trees through our "one for one" Food Trees program. For every product you purchase, Yogo donates a food-bearing tree plus five years of agroforestry training to a low-income family in Africa.
Deforestation often has roots in poverty, so when our founder Jessica set out to find a give-back partner in 2014, she was keen to create a tree program that address not just carbon-sinking but also poverty reduction. Our community-based agroforestry program provides multiple benefits to the recipient families and to the planet: climate stabilization, community income, agriculture skills, business training, food, and education.
Here is a 10-minute video by UN Environment Program about the Trees for the Future program that we are supporting throughout Africa.
COUNTRY UPDATES!
Here are some exciting program updates by country, as of fall 2023.
1. Tanzania: Farmers are diligently working on establishing their nurseries in preparation for the upcoming December-April rains. Your support is enabling them to prepare the groundwork for a greener, more sustainable future.
2. Uganda: We are thrilled to share that the rains have blessed Uganda, allowing farmers to plant thousands of trees on their land. Your support has translated into tangible growth, as these trees take root and promise a better tomorrow.
3. Kenya: Our seed bank in Kenya has achieved a significant milestone. Over 2,000 kg of seeds have been collected, ensuring a robust supply for future planting initiatives. Your purchase directly fuels this essential part of our reforestation efforts.
4. Senegal and Mali: The planting season in Senegal and Mali, which spans from July to September, has come to a successful close. Thanks to generous donors, hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted, enriching the landscape and securing a sustainable environment for generations to come.
Our partner NGO Trees for the Future has completed 32 years of community forestry and is currently working alongside local staff in African countries Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, and Tanzania. They work to ensure that each family can independently and permanently feed themselves and enrich the earth. This approach lessens the dependencies that sometimes arise from rich-country food-aid programs.
Food Trees addresses poverty by equipping farmers to:
- produce food
- restore the environment
- create goods for sale
- empower women and children
- create long-term income
- sustainably manage the land
WHY "FOOD TREES"?
Food trees are amazing! “Forest gardens” are mixed agricultural systems starting with trees which provide shade for the other food- and herb-bearing plants. Instead of export-based mono-cropping, the agroforestry species diversity helps boost yields, restore soil, revitalize degraded land, and produce a complete set of nutrition.
This approach provides a long-term independent solution for African families, instead of "air dropping" aid, or "spray-and-pray" seedling plantings. It is the quintessential "teach a person to fish" approach.
Environmental upsides! Each tree (that's every time you buy a product) can be expected to sequester about one ton of carbon as well as restoring soil and improving watersheds. In a rainforest setting, agroforestry systems can reduce slash-and-burn agriculture. In the degraded land settings where Food Trees program works, we are mostly restoring barren land and restoring them to life.
WHEN YOU PLANT TREES, YOU ALSO: |
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empower women restore biodiversity help families feed themselves provide permanent employment create educational opportunities for children permanently increase the income of farmers |
avoid deforestation build strong communities create fodder to feed livestock reverse environmental degradation remove tons of carbon from the atmosphere provide fuel so villagers don’t need to cut down trees |
