Trees of Hope
Sekanakoni Banda provides for a home of eight people in a rural district of Dowa, in central Malawi. His primary source of livelihood has been rain-fed subsistence farming, though he has also relied on the surrounding natural resources, particularly forests, to provide his other basic needs. Through the Trees of Hope project, Sekanakoni now owns nearly five hectares of woodlot, from which he harvests poles and firewood for his house. His wife no longer needs to walk long distances in search of firewood, and he is also able to sell wood to his neighbors to earn extra income and support his grandchildren in school. The woodlot has environmental benefits as well: it enables Sekanakoni to make use of land which would have otherwise been left idle, and the trees help reduce soil erosion and run-off in his other fields downstream, conserving soils in the process. Sekanakoni has also accumulated 800 tons of carbon credits, which will potentially earn his household over US $3,000 when sold on the carbon market. He plans to use this income to buy iron sheets to improve his home along with additional goats for his family.