Bauchi communities benefit from foundation’s tree-planting exercise

The Foundation for Sustainable Smallholder Solutions has planted 12,243 trees across farming communities and secondary schools in Bauchi North as part of efforts to restore degraded land and strengthen farmers’ resilience to climate change.

Our correspondent reports that the intervention is being implemented under the three-year ESTRRA Project with support from the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation and Nigerian Breweries Plc.

Speaking during the exercise on Thursday, the Technical Lead and ESTRRA Project Manager, Timothy Azakere, said the agroforestry initiative was designed to regenerate degraded soil while providing farmers with additional sources of food and income.

“We’re using agroforestry to regenerate the soil. The same fruit forests will also be used as an economic means for the farmers,” Azakere said.

He added that farmers were expected to begin enjoying the economic benefits of the trees as they matured.

“In the next three years, these things will start fruiting. The farmers will use it as food and the excess of it they will sell to get revenue,” he added.

Azakere said the organisation planned to expand the intervention in the second phase, with trained farmers expected to receive additional seedlings from a planned distribution of 14,000 trees for planting on their farms.

He disclosed that the organisation planned to plant a total of 24,000 economic trees across the project area, stressing that “The agroforestry intervention forms part of ESTRRA’s broader efforts to restore 29,000 hectares of degraded land across Bauchi North through regenerative agriculture, land restoration and other climate-smart farming practices”.

Also speaking, an agricultural expert and consultant, Paul Tamen, who supported the project’s technical training, said the participating farmers were trained in good agronomic practices for establishing and managing economic tree crops.

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According to him, the training covered land mapping, farm layout, appropriate spacing, planting and seedling management.

One of the beneficiaries, Umar Aliyu, from Gambaki community in Katagum Local Government Area, described the seedlings as an investment in his family’s future.

“These trees are important to me because they can give us food and also something to sell in the future. The seedlings are still small now, but we will take care of them,” Aliyu said.

Arewa PUNCH reports that the intervention is being implemented across seven local government areas in Bauchi North.

During the first phase of the project, more than 70 farmers were trained in agroforestry and supported to establish eight learning sites, where 5,673 seedlings were planted.

The learning sites are expected to serve as practical platforms for Farmer Field Schools, where farmers will learn how to establish, manage and integrate trees into their farming systems.

A further 6,500 economic tree seedlings were distributed to 500 households, with each household receiving 13 seedlings to establish permagardens.

The agroforestry learning sites and household permagardens accounted for 12,173 trees, while an additional 70 trees were planted in secondary schools, bringing the total number of trees planted during the first phase to 12,243.

The tree species include: mango, citrus, guava, cashew, plantain, banana, moringa, gliricidia and papaya, selected for their environmental, nutritional and economic benefits.