The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation will plant fruit trees & provide horticultural training in the severely deforested and impoverished state of Uttar Pradesh, India, creating a sustainable source of healthy food for families while reforesting the region. The trees will be planted at schools, clinics & community centers. Low-income households will also receive fruit trees. Harvest will help impoverished families struggling to feed their children & the trees will provide habitat for wildlife.
Millions of people in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra live in extreme poverty. Hunger is a severe problem, with 45,000 children dying of malnutrition each year. Many families subsist on the barest minimum of rice with little fresh produce or protein in their diets. The region's poverty is exacerbated by extreme environmental degradation including massive deforestation and erosion. Planting food bearing trees will provide sustainable, nutritious food for the poor.
Orchards for India addresses hunger and deforestation through the planting fruit trees. The trees are gifted as community assets and the fruit free to all. FTPF provides training workshops to students and community leaders, who will then plant and care for the trees with the help of our professional arborists and volunteers. Training workshops include environmental education about the value of trees to the community and the environment.
Orchards for India provides a long-term, inexpensive and sustainable solution to multiple urgent needs. As the trees grow to maturity, the communities will be enriched by their young forests and community members will have free fruit to add to their diets. Mature fruit trees prevent erosion, create wildlife habitat, contribute to global cooling, provide nutritious food and improve air quality. Thousands of people throughout the region will benefit from the new food forests.
