What we do
Building a global landscape restoration movement
Together with millions of farmers & pastoralists.
Our goal is to inspire and mobilize millions of subsistence farmers and pastoralists in sub-Saharan Africa to make dry land green again.
This makes a huge impact on crop yields, biodiversity, water availability, local climate as well as climate change on a global scale! Here’s our approach making this change happen.
We focus on grassroots empowerment.
Empowering people, one by one, to regreen their land is a cost-effective and scalable method and a catalyst for socio-economic change. For this to happen we need to get into people’s hearts and minds. We inspire farmers by showing the benefits of restoring land and provide them with tools on how to get started.
Regreening hearts and minds is fundamental for building a landscape restoration movement.
To actually create a real, lasting change in people’s mindset, we inspire farmers and pastoralists through national and regional awareness campaigns, which makes them more receptive for the next stage: targeted messaging. Once farmers are aware and have engaged with regreening as a concept, we use targeted messages to inform by teaching a certain practice, and to enthuse, giving farmers the drive and the confidence to regreen by themselves.
By celebrating successes and inspiring people in the process, we spread the word and spread the green.Â
In all our programs on the ground, we look for the best ways to closely cooperate with local partners and communities. We also ensure there is a clear socio-economic benefit for them with each intervention so that we can ensure the programs are sustainable.
Case Study: Tanzania
In Tanzania, we have been training a group of regreening champions on how to practice and teach regreening techniques. After these so-called Training of Trainers workshops, the regreening champions go back to their communities to educate fellow farmers and pastoralists on how to improve their land. The more people practice and share their successes, the more people are inspired and join in.Â
These champions are supported not only by our local organizations and stakeholders, but also with an effective communication package, for example posters, flyers, or painting murals with a clear call-to-action, or a movie roadshow.
Throughout Sub-Saharan AfricaÂ
Through the programs we have implemented up to now, we know regreening works, and we know how it works. Now, we have started to reach farmers outside of our own programs, ultimately this will be anywhere in Africa. We do this by harnessing all sorts of communication & technology possibilities: our digital regreening platform, radio, TV, out-of-home communication and individual (SMS) messages.Â
They are encouraged throughout the year by us showing them the results in their areas and providing regreening tips and tricks. As well as that, giving them other useful information, such as the anticipated start of the rainy season. This means we can reach more and more people, even without being on the ground. This is one of the ways we scale up the regreening process!
Movie roadshow - Tanzania 2019
