Saving the Planet while Improving Lives
More than 325 million people in Africa live on less than $1 a day, with little or no access to clean water, sanitation, quality health care, and other life-sustaining goods. Two-thirds of Africans derive their livelihoods from subsistence rain-fed agriculture, leaving them vulnerable to climate change that threatens their very existence. These rural women and men are determined to contribute toward climate change management and improving the resilience of their livelihoods in the face of the climate threat.
In both Rwanda and Malawi, the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI) instituted a large-scale carbon sequestration program with local farmers by growing and planting a large number of trees across the region. CHDI is facilitating the sale of the credits for the carbon stored within these trees on the world market, thereby providing enough income to sustain the project and increase the income of the farmers who maintain the trees. It is estimated that these trees have contributed to saving approximately 450,000 tons of carbon.
Since its launch, thousands of farmers have planted over 4 million trees under different planting systems such as boundary planting, woodlots, and fruit orchards. It is estimated that the trees planted have contributed to saving approximately 450,000 tons of carbon.
But the effect is not just environmental –– thousands of lives are being improved. One of the farmers in the program, Celestine, has planted close to a hectare of fruit trees close to his home near Rwinkwavu, Eastern Province, Rwanda. The fruit trees he is tending will generate an income of $200 over the first five years of the project, and once the tress are fully mature, he will be able to generate an income of over $2,000 a year. Celestine is also participating in the CHDI cassava growing program, enabling him to earn enough income to purchase a cow, providing milk for his own family and neighbors.
