FEATURED: One Acre Fund Rwanda reflects on tree campaign, unveils plans

Tree planting is among the best ways to combat climate change caused by greenhouse gases. This is why in 2022, One Acre Fund Rwanda partnered with the Ministry of Environment to support the environmental sector in Rwanda and help farmers increase their income. One Acre Fund aims to plant 250 million trees by 2030 and has already planted 96 million trees by the end of 2023. To reach this target, they are running a campaign to plant 25 million agroforestry trees and 500,000 fruit trees across the country. In 2023, the campaign yielded significant outcomes, delivering 21 million trees, comprising both agroforestry and fruit trees, to around 750,000 smallholder farmers. ALSO READ: One Acre Fund to help farmers plant native trees One Acre Fund has revealed intentions for a new campaign this year, intending to plant close to 25 million trees. The campaign will emphasise the cultivation of native tree species nationwide, particularly on sloped terrain and terraces. Furthermore, the provision of additional fruit trees is intended to enhance farmers' diets and promote the establishment of horticulture hubs in rural areas. According to Belinda Bwiza, Chief Executive of One Acre Fund Rwanda, the tree campaign initiated eight years ago has grown exponentially—starting with one million trees in 2016. “We partner with the government to deliver agroforestry and fruit trees to every farmer across the country. Every year, we have been delivering 20 million agroforestry trees and 500,000 fruit trees to close to one million farmers. This year, we plan to supply 25 million agroforestry trees and over 500,000 fruit trees.” ALSO READ: One Acre Fund impacting lives through land control measures One Acre Fund Rwanda collaborates with the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Boards to use “Twigire Muhinzi”, a home-grown farming extension model applied across Rwandan villages. Through the process of growing trees, they collaborate with macro entrepreneurs in communities and districts as they are important stakeholders in the campaign and help to directly link farmers. Bwiza stated that the programme aims at sustainability and crafting a system change approach that will thrive beyond. They also encourage women and youth macro-entrepreneurs to establish and manage decentralised tree nurseries. These nurseries serve as channels for generating income and building capacity. Through training, participants learn to navigate the entire tree production cycle successfully before distributing trees to individuals. “We have about 1,850 decentralised tree nurseries in almost every cell across the country, owned by an entrepreneur in that community. We are heading over the 100 million mark of trees distributed throughout the last eight years the campaign has been running,” Bwiza stated. One Acre Fund anticipates starting planning earlier to ensure that the seedlings are available to meet the demand and deliver trees by planting time in October. Bwiza stressed that they are working closely with government partners to extend the programme beyond the tree campaign, and started a pilot on forestry and land restoration last year, where farmers require about 150 trees each. The idea is to combine both programmes to combat climate change. One Acre Fund Rwanda has launched a robust climate adaptation and resilience strategy to support farmers who are most affected by climate change and explore ways to incentivise farmers to plant more trees for carbon credits revenue. Concorde Nsengumuremyi, Director General of Rwanda Forestry Authority, recognised the successful collaboration between One Acre Fund Rwanda and the Ministry of Environment in last year's tree campaigns, which led to the distribution of more than 96 million agroforestry and fruit trees. This, he said, aligns with the ambitious goal of the Government of Rwanda to bring two million hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2030 under the Bonn Challenge commitment and the Africa Forest Restoration Initiative (AFR100). Nsengumuremyi noted that it is everyone’s responsibility to protect the environment and address climate, which is why Rwanda has put the environment at the heart of its development agenda for more than two decades. “Considerable progress has been made to curb biodiversity loss through developing policies and strategies, to reduce pressure on our forests, and to restore degraded ecosystems. As a nation, we have achieved a remarkable 30 per cent forest cover.” He further noted that ancient Rwandans planted tree species like Ficus known as “umuvumu” and Erythrina Abyssinica known as “umuko”, leaving a rich legacy that must be conserved and expanded, stressing that planting trees is not merely an environmental task but also a heritage and practice deeply rooted in our culture and history. “We are part of the global framework to conserve biodiversity, combat land degradation and the impacts of climate change,” Nsengumuremyi stated. Some of the tree campaign goals are to increase farmer resilience through planting trees to adapt to climate change, improve biodiversity and boost income, increase the long-term supply of quality fruit trees to support the development of a strong fruit value chain, and support the government’s targets to accelerate national economic development and reach its agroforestry targets.

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FEATURED: One Acre Fund Rwanda reflects on tree campaign, unveils plans