Regreening project
Dodoma, Tanzania
Dodoma, Tanzania
Singida, Tanzania
Work
Scaling up the regreening in Tanzania
Scaling up regreening
tree by tree
After successfully bringing back millions of trees in the Dodoma region, we’re expanding our reach and scale-up the regreening to the neighbouring region Singida from May 2021 onwards.
The Singida region is located West of Dodoma and is home to many smallholder farmers, who highly depend on green and fertile land to grow their crops. Elderly farmers in the region tell stories about how green their living environment used to be. Over the years, however, these green landscapes have disappeared due to deforestation, land degradation, and climate change. What remains is a barren and dry area where farmers struggle to grow their crops.
Time for action: with help of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR, or Kisiki Hai) and rainwater harvesting techniques the farmers can make their land green and fertile again. Together they are able to bring back and protect millions of trees and capture billions of liters of water, restoring the dry and degraded landscapes of the Singida region.
This program is developed and will be implemented together with our local implementing partner LEAD Foundation.
Impact so far
3.9 million
trees regenerated
>245.000
people empowered
216 million
liters water retained in 2023
>42 kilometers
Fanya Juu & Fanya Chini
3.9 million trees are regenerated
We bring back forgotten tree stumps by using a technique called Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), or – as we like to call it: Kisiki Hai. This is more effective than planting new trees!
By regenerating those trees, we are able to restore the degraded areas and make these areas green and cool again.
More than 245.000 people are empowered
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.
216 MILLION LITERS OF WATER RETAINED
One of the main advantages bringing back vegetation is that it creates more moisture into the air. Vegetation “transpires”: it releases moisture into the air which cools it down. On a large enough scale, this helps to create clouds and increases the chance of rain, especially at the beginning and end of the rainy season, helping to restore the water cycle.
>42 KILOMETERS OF TRENCHES DUG
Fanya Juu and Fanya Chini are rainwater harvesting techniques. Farmers dig trenches along the contours within their farmland to prevent erosion and to capture the valuable rainwater within their land.
In total more than 42 kilometers of these contours have been dug by the farmers in Singida.
Our approach
Kisiki Hai
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) or Kisiki Hai (‘living stump’ in Swahili), is a technique to regrow trees and support new, naturally occurring sprouts to grow big.
Together with LEAD Foundation, we train local farmers to apply the technique on their own land, allowing the regeneration of millions of trees.
Want to learn more about the benefits of Kisiki Hai?
Fanya Juu and Fanya Chini
Fanya Juu and Fanya Chini are rainwater harvesting techniques. Farmers dig contours within their farmland to prevent erosion and to capture the valuable rainwater within their land.
Fanya Chini means ‘ throw it downwards’ in Swahili. It prevents the rain falling outside the farm from entering the farm, inhibiting erosion of fertile soil. Fanya Juu means ‘throw it upwards’, and prevents the rain falling within the farm to run off, increasing the water availability for the crops on the land. In the end, it helps the farmers to regreen their farms even more!
Want to learn more about the benefits of this technique?
Capacity building
By training around 800 facilitators (so-called Champion Farmers), we can reach out to farmers in almost 200 villages in the Singida region.
These facilitators train their fellow farmers on how to regenerate trees on their own farmlands. This way thousands of farmers are activated to regreen their own land, bringing back millions of trees in the Singida region resulting in an increase in drought resilience, food production, and household income. The Champion Farmers are also trained in rainwater harvesting practices, helping them to regreen the land even further.
Building a Movement
We believe that it is not only important to train people how to regreen their land, but also find other ways to reach and inspire them. By building a real regreening movement we aim to reach and inspire millions of farmers within the Singida region.
Part of this regreening movement is our movie roadshow: a video caravan going from village to village, reaching almost 200 villages. The roadshow is a whole day event, filled with theatre, music, dance, and performances all about Kisiki Hai. When the evening falls, a large movie-theatre screen is set up, which shows the inspiring movie Kisiki Hai that is filmed entirely in Central Tanzania.
Contactless regreening
To spread the regreening movement even further, we’ve set up various approaches to reach and inspire farmers, without physically visiting them. This way we are able to inspire farmers in and outside of the Singida region!
An example is our Regreening SMS service, which we developed together with partner LEAD Foundation and Service Platform Climate Edge. Farmers can subscribe to this service, which will send them a text message every week with tips and tricks on how to practice Kisiki Hai and Fanya Juu and Fanya Chini.
You can now (virtually) visit our project sites!
To truly understand how nature-based solution transform entire landscapes, ecosystems and communities, you have to see it with your own eyes. We want the entire world to know just how much of a game-changer bringing back trees from forgotten tree stumps is. By going to our immersive documentary, you have the opportunity to learn about this method first-hand and understand its potential. You can share it with your own community afterward, and help us regreen the planet!
Our mission
We are on a mission to regreen African landscapes in the next 10 years, together with millions of farmers, and together with you.
If we want to cool down the planet in one decade, everyone needs to be in on the change. We use the power of media, communication, data, and the latest technology to spread our message and scale-up. We want to inspire, unite and empower an entire generation, growing a landscape restoration movement.
