Managing land where agriculture and forestry co-exist increases biodiversity, drives more sustainable land use and delivers more enriched climate and economic outcomes for local stakeholders. Integrating forestry and cash cropping within our landscape approach has the opportunity to increase returns and de-risk cultivated forests through diversification of revenue streams and market cycles. It’s a dual-land use model that simply makes more sense for sustainability, land optimization, and financial returns than alternative monocultural interventions.

One of the largest opportunities to revive forests on degraded land lies with various local chain agents. Small landholdings owned and managed by the world's 500 million rural dwellers in de-forested hot spots offers the greatest potential for reforestation. Having these landholders work in tandem with other community operatives to steward sustainably cultivated forests alongside their agricultural activities provides one of the most effective solutions to the climate crisis while regenerating local ecosystems.

Local communities will only restore forests on degraded land if they can improve their livelihoods by growing trees. However, due to the small, fragmented nature of their agricultural practices and value-chain complexities, it's too costly and logistically challenging for them to access this optimal nature-based solution. Working cooperatively with Ziimba to cultivate and sell sustainably grown wood on ruined land, not viable for much else, will unlock untapped revenue streams for local stakeholders, allowing them to bolster their livelihoods by establishing small production forests.

Women make up almost half of the smallholder agricultural workforce, but usually have much less access to resources like credit and quality inputs. According to the FAO, if women smallholders received the same access to productive resources, agricultural yields could rise by 20-30%. When agricultural yields increase, there is less pressure for deforestation and clearing of additional agricultural land. That’s why Ziimba prioritizes working with female partner forest stewards through our programming, with a minimum quota of having a 50% female farmer base.

Ziimba partners with rural smallholder farmers to increase their income. As an organization, Ziimba prioritizes partnerships with rural communities to provide access to urban markets for their goods. Ziimba provides the link needed for these farmers to earn more from their harvest – both in timber and non timber forest products. Based on our baseline survey, over 85% of our partner farmers sell their agricultural outputs to exploitative middleman or in rural villages, where prices are much lower and perpetuate the cycle of poverty. Ziimba aims to break this cycle. Ziimba is able to earn a higher price for the forest products that the farmers produce by providing access to a better market in urban centers.

Through the distribution of our extensive practical training to all partner forest stewards, we'll be disbursing technical forestry and agriculture knowledge and know-how in rural communities, as well as awareness on the environmental benefits of tree planting. This knowledge will remain in the communities beyond the duration of Ziimba's partnership, and be passed onto future generations, so tree planting can become part of common farming practices. We will especially focus on strengthening the smallholding wood supply base in all our implementation areas, through the expansion of our nature and market oriented intervention. This will provide lasting opportunities for rural communities to participate in high-value wood markets and earn a robust income from tree planting.