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Meet Baata
Baata is a lead farmer on a project made possible by Tree Aid supporters that is taking place in Navio, Ghana. As a lead farmer, he takes pride in sharing his skills and knowledge with others in his community, "My role in the project is that I am a lead farmer. I plant trees and practice assisted regeneration so that other farmers will learn."
His hope is that by teaching even more farmers how to restore and protect the environment, his community can build a better, greener future for their children.
Before the project
Baata and his family depend on the annual rains to grow their crops. But as the effects of the climate crisis worsen and droughts and floods become more frequent and severe, Baata's farming is becoming harder and harder. The dry season is going on longer and his crops are wilting and dying.
He said, “We experience drought and we experience floods. Anytime there is drought, the crops do not grow properly and then when we also have floods, it washes our crops away.” For Baata, any changes to the climate can have a devastating effect on his farm, and his source of food and income.
"When incidents of drought happen, we have to rely on tree foods and firewood for survival. So when our crops fail, those are the things we rely on.”
Since joining the project
Tree Aid is supporting communities across Africa's drylands to implement bold nature-based solutions to tackle the causes of the climate crisis while building resilience to its impacts. Trees are a solution. They are drought and flood-resistant, and provide an alternative source of food and income all year.
With support from Tree Aid's project, Baata is making sure he is ready for what the future holds: “I know about climate change and that is why we are planting trees and we are seeing that this year the rains are quite good for our crops. We have joined the Village Savings and Loans Association and in the dry season we can borrow if we need to buy food to support the family.”
Looking to the future
Baata told us what has changed since being part of a Tree Aid project, "I have seen changes in my community because when we started there were areas that looked very bare, but those places are now populated with trees." By growing trees alongside farming crops, communities can diversify their incomes, a vital step in building resilience to climate shocks.
Baata told us what trees mean to him and explained his hopes for the future, “For me, the hope is that in the future I should be able to provide enough food for my family, be able to pay my children’s school fees and also see more trees growing."
