Farmers help save trees by selling leaves, twigs

By Bob Koigi

Nairobi,Kenya:A company working to promote products made from local plants has halved felling of trees.

It has also more than doubled the income of tree farmers in Laikipia by buying leaves, twigs and roots, which were traditionally sold as charcoal.

Desert Edge Bio-Trading Company, has stepped up its conservation methods by approaching farmers to tend to the trees.  Instead of felling trees for charcoal, the farmers harvest parts like the branches or the twigs, which they then sell to Desert Edge. With a great market link, the Company gets buyers who include pharmaceuticals and hoteliers who use them as raw ingredients.

Laikipia has been experienced dry spells, with virtually nothing to grow in the area as desertification intensifies at a worrying rate. “Between 2009-2011 land degradation was so acute that for every acre only a quarter of an acre would be suitable for farming,” said Moses Muchori, an agronomist in the area.

“Since the beginning of the project, lost tree species like Prunus, Olive Africana and Croton have been re introduced in the area with impressive results. These are world sought after trees by the pharmaceutical companies.”

Treat cancer

Prunus for example is known to be an active ingredient in the treatment of prostrate cancer.  “But the catch here is that you have to pay the farmers more for the parts of the leaves they deliver than what they get for selling charcoal or firewood to traders,” said Lucas Mbithi from Desert Edge. It has been a tough call but we have come into a consensus with the farmers especially when they know that they have a guaranteed market when they deliver with us.

Farmers delivering leaves of a tree for example get paid in kilos, and they can deliver as much as possible throughout the year. This means farmers put effort in tending and conserving the trees to ensure optimal growth.

 A kilo of leaves pick Sh100 with a well pruned tree producing some 30 kilos of leaves. This venture has birthed Tigithi Aloe Group formerly loggers who now grow and preserve Aloe Vera and diversifying into other indigenous and medicinal plants.

The group which has some 300 members. The counting has been pivotal in discouraging logging and has been responsible for the replanting of over 10,000 trees of 10 different species since 2010.

“It was hard to get out of the charcoal business because it was lucrative but with the guaranteed market from Desert Edge we finally managed to get a source of steady income which was one of our biggest headaches,” said Joseph Muthati a member of Tigithi Aloe Group.

                         —FarmBiz Africa