She Grows

The project

Our She Grows project (which ran from 2020-23) supported over 1,000 women in Mali to grow trees, food, and an income.

We empowered women to secure access to trees. With the right tools and training, they can now turn tree products like fruit and nuts into nutritious food to eat, and products like soap and shea butter to sell. With training in key business skills and links to buyers, they have been able to increase their household income, and tackle poverty.

Why was this project needed?

Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world where women have few opportunities to earn money. Most women depend on what they can grow on their land for food and income, but the climate crisis is making this even harder.

To make matters worse, women living in Mali have less access to healthcare, education and jobs. They are also prevented from managing the trees and land they rely on.

Our aims

This project aimed:

to support 1,000 women with the tools and training needed to earn an income from tree products. Women working together in cooperative groups to process and sell tree products would help them gain financial independence.
for women to learn how to care for trees, helping local forests thrive, and increasing the number of women making decisions about the use of local natural resources.

Our impact

The project came to an end in 2023. We worked with 1,496 households across 10 communities, delivering training in planting, beekeeping, land rights, advocacy, communication, public speaking, gender, shea butter production techniques, etc.

We also distributed tools to help with the production of tree products and supported the construction of kiosks that communities can use to sell their products.

We are happy to say that there was a noticeable increase in the average income of households participating in the project (+171%).