Plastic Magazine has partnered with Trees for the Future, a nonprofit organisation focused on land restoration in developing communities around the world. We’re contributing towards their efforts through donations to do our small part for a more sustainable future for everyone.

Unsustainable land use is at the root of our most pressing challenges. Trees have the power to support communities, improve lives and restore the planet. For over three decades, Trees for the Future has provided hands-on agroforestry training and resources to farming communities across five countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

By embracing sustainable land practices, farmers are reclaiming their agency, breaking the cycles of climate change and generational poverty while rebuilding our food systems from the ground up. Trees for the Future’s work in agroforestry impacts more than you might think. In fact, the Forest Garden Approach meets NINE out of seventeen of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

394 Trees Planted

Poor nutrition and food insecurity have rocked rural areas across Africa for years and at the same time, smallholder farmers are seeing less success in the increasingly challenging world of agriculture. Trees for the Future recognises the connection between agriculture and chronic hunger and poverty. If we change the way we farm, entire swaths of rural communities stand to benefit and that’s exactly what Trees for the Future is doing.

Fortunately, there’s a proven solution. Farming has the potential to mitigate climate change, protect families from volatile markets, and offer resources and pathways out of hunger and poverty. Trees for the Future has been training farmers in what they call the Forest Garden approach since 2015, which uses agroforestry and sustainable farming practices to protect land, diversify crops and optimise space. 

Farmers are trained in the Forest Garden Approach over a four-year period and Trees for the Future provides all the training, seeds, tools and materials. Through the Forest Garden Approach, farmers plant thousands of trees that protect and bring nutrients back to the soil and make the farmer more resilient to climate change-related weather patterns like drought or flooding. As their soil health improves, farmers grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, which in turn increases income and food security for the farmers.

Read more about Trees for The Future’s mission and donate to a worthwhile cause here.