Experts argue that the warming of the planet will increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, thus endangering all living species on earth including men and women who will starve following the lack of food if nothing is done to further protect our environment.

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Tragically, trees which are supposed to sequestrate all toxic gases behind the global warming of the planet, are dying on our watch. Scholars around the world point to a post-transplanting mortality rate of 70%. In Rwanda, considering the last five years, the loss incurred by a high mortality rate is estimated to be Rwf30 billion in the most conservative hypothesis.

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In collaboration with the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), research was conducted in Nyagatare and Rutsiro districts. The same research was conducted in parts of Uganda.

ICRAF scientists from both sides of the border reached a survival rate of 70% after incentivizing farmers. As incentives, ICRAF signed with local farmers a performance-based contract geared towards the protection of the transplanted trees which included alunus, grevillea, and acacias.

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The successful experiences in both countries suggest that incentives to farmers increase the psychological ownership of the trees by the farmers. When they are provided in kind, they are even better shared by the families than money sent to the account of the head of the family who might divert it to personal spending. ICRAF provided goat donations to every family which reached a tree survival of 70%. The ‘goat objective” was achieved by 60% of the participating families.

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Based on the above research findings, ICRAF scholars are busy crafting additional strategies to increase the number of achievers from 60% to 100% while pushing the survival rate of trees from 30% cited above to 90%.

Potential research avenues under consideration include but are not limited to:

- Provide more incentives in kind as conditional cash transfers to farmers,

- Use the Village Umurenge Program (VUP) as a vector for social protection,

- Conduct social studies aiming at understanding the adoption behavior and how it can be changed at the farmers' level,

- Involve more stakeholders in the process, especially the private sector,

- Introduce fruit trees on farms to increase the revenue of the farmers,

- Provide more training and three-year accompanying support to farmers, and,

- Mainstream tree-on-farm policy across all sectors of the economy.

The expected results are fivefold:

- An increase in survival rate saves the average Rwf6 billion lost in replacement of trees every year. Part of the savings are allocated to incentives in kind for performing farmers who will increase the survival rate from 30% to 90%.

- By introducing fruit trees on the farm, the farmers start getting a new income starting from the third year after transplantation. This is the case for avocado and mango trees. Our conservative hypothesis puts that perennial income to Rwf13,000 per tree. That income will increase every year as the trees grow to reach maturity level starting from the seventh year when the harvest is valued at Rwf65,000 per tree based on current market prices. This will lead to fast graduation out of poverty and put farmers in the middle-income class posted in Rwanda Vision 2030.

- The carbon sequestration by fruit trees is superior to traditional species like eucalyptus, umusave, and grevellias. The fruit tree canopy which is the basis of the carbon sequestration calculation is bigger than in all traditional species currently used in agro-forestry.

- On the macro-economic level, fruits will help in fighting malnutrition at local consumption while increasing the so-much-needed exports to lessen Rwanda's trade deficit.

- In addition to fast graduation out of poverty, fighting malnutrition, earning foreign currencies, and planting fruit trees on farms will induce additional transformation and value-addition activities in the economy. These activities will lead to more job creation for the country, especially for women and youth in the rural areas.

Trees are invaluable for combating global warming, protecting the environment, and uplifting rural economies. However, the current high mortality rate calls for innovative strategies to enhance tree survival and diversify tree species. ICRAF Rwanda is hosting a conference in Kigali on November 29, at Marriott Hotel, to address these challenges.

The author is the Country Director of ICRAF Rwanda and a leading researcher in this field of forestry science. He is the author of scientific papers published in renowned journals such as Geoderma Regional, Small-scale Forestry, International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, and Frontiers in Environmental Science.