Sustainable livelihoods for smallholders help protect the rainforest

Did you know that about 30 soccer fields of rainforest are lost every minute? The main reasons are the large-scale cultivation of palm oil and soy as well as livestock farming. But an unfair land distribution and poverty are also forcing smallholder farmers deeper into the rainforests of Uganda and Indonesia. Since the soils under the rainforest contain few nutrients, they can only be cultivated for a few years, after which new land is needed – and more forest is destroyed. Smallholders experience the direct consequences of deforestation such as flooding, drought and dwindling access to firewood and edible wild plants firsthand, but until now they have had few alternatives. Fairventures Worldwide offers them an ecologically, socially and also economically sustainable solution which benefits everyone.

Fairventures supports smallholders with reforestation of degraded lands and distributes seedlings from its own nurseries to them. This enables smallholders to revive deforested areas and produce wood and food for self-sufficiency and sale, thereby creating a sustainable source of income.

In Indonesia and Uganda, Fairventures focuses on fruit trees and fast-growing native species that are in demand by the wood processing industry. The selected lightwoods grow reliably even in poor soils, are ready for harvesting within seven to ten years and are suitable for agroforestry, an integrated approach to the production of trees and of non-tree crops or animals on the same piece of land. Among other varieties, cocoa, vegetables and nuts are grown by the smallholders.

In order to provide smallholders farmers with the right incentives to plant trees, take care of them and replant them after the harvest, sales at attractive prices must be secured. Therefore, Fairventures works with the wood processing industry, universities, architects and engineers to develop new products and expand the use of the promoted timber species locally. In addition, Fairventures demonstrates the potential of modern timber construction with innovative buildings.

The partnership with knodel foundation enables Fairventures Worldwide to support even more smallholder farmers in creating sustainable livelihoods through the planting of trees, as well as to expand its collaboration with the local wood processing industry.