In 2019/20, we joined forces with local communities in Africa’s drylands to grow 1,982,418 trees and protect 10,941 new hectares of land.
In Mali, we worked with 467 farmers to restore 203 hectares of land. Our work with communities in Burkina Faso was found to have reduced forest fires by nearly two thirds. And in Ethiopia and Ghana, we helped people produce 1,807 fuel-efficient stoves which use half as much firewood as traditional ones, meaning fewer trees are being cut down.
Together with local communities, we influence policy and push for change that protects trees, people and our planet.
In Burkina Faso, we worked with communities to develop forest management plans to protect the 550,000 new trees we planted over four central regions of the country in the last year. In 2019/20, 245 people in Ethiopia had refresher training on how to manage areas of land protected from damaging practices, like clearing trees for farming.
In 2019/20, we supported people to form 274 new village tree enterprises, bringing the total we work with to 882.
We joined forces with over 70 enterprise groups in Ghana to produce more and better-quality shea and baobab products. This helped to triple individuals’ annual income from $52 to $162 a year. And after supporting village tree enterprise groups in Burkina Faso to get their tree products into shops, members’ household income increased by 55%, or $200.70 a year.
We work with communities to grow trees that provide nutritious fruit, nuts and leaves, giving people stable supplied of food even when other crops fail.
Evaluation of our project in Burkina Faso, found that 93% of communities benefiting from nutrition gardens – nurseries growing seedlings like baobab and moringa that provide edible, nutritious leaves after just three months, said the child malnutrition had decreased. And in Ethiopia, some of the 354 households that received a papaya tree from Tree Aid are now selling as well as eating its fruit.