Restore the incredible Zambian Miombo forests

November to January is tree planting time in Katanino - and meant a busy time for the farmers taking part in the project’s Conservation Agriculture programme, one of the project’s two agroforestry-based livelihood schemes. The communities were really interested in Conservation Agriculture, and many more have adopted it than we expected! After being trained, 118 farmers set aside a total of 64 ha of their land, for which the project provided them with 22 600 Faldherbia albida and Gliricidia sepia seedlings for planting amongst their crops. This ‘intercropping’ of maize with legumes and nitrogen-fixing species improves crop production and increases food security, as well relieving pressure on forests.

More recently, the team in Katanino received a very important visitor! A change of government in Zambia has seen a renewed emphasis on development, which provides an empowering environment for climate projects. The newly appointed Minister for Green Economy and Environment, Hon. Collins Nzovu, visited our site at the end of January to inaugurate the new offices and chat to the team about how projects such as this one can be scaled up all over Zambia.

Thank you for helping to make all this possible! 

WeForest’s restoration project here supports local families in taking up alternative income-generating activities to reduce pressure on the forest. Farmers who set aside part of their land to be restored with miombo woodland using Assisted Natural Regeneration also receive up to five beehives each. Their second harvest yielded an average of 40kg of honey per 5 hives, around 40% more than the first harvest in December. That translates to a useful boost in income for the households taking part. In the picture above, field officer Mr. Nyoni from Nature Nectar, one of the companies that buys Katanino honey, is meeting the farmers on the beekeeping programme to carry out the purchase.

Cultivating mushrooms is another livelihood that can make a positive contribution to forest restoration and increased food security for households. The Katanino restoration project is empowering local women in oyster mushroom production (below), including promoting sustainable mushroom collection from areas both inside and outside the Forest Reserve.