Planting Trees to Improve Land and Livelihood
Nuru, a 33-year-old farmer from Tulo village in the Uluguru mountain range in Tanzania who has embraced tree planting as a way to secure a sustainable future for her family and safeguard the environment. Through APOPO’s HeroTREEs project, Nuru is planting a variety of trees that not only improves the quality of her land but also provides long-term benefits for her family’s livelihood. In her own words, she shares how this project is helping her and her community.
“My name is Nuru and I am 33 years old. I farm together with my husband, and our four children go to school. The eldest is 17, the next are 12, 10, and the youngest is 4 years old. We live here in Tulo, just the six of us.
I decided to join the HeroTREEs project after seeing my fellow farmers benefit from the previous one. I thought it was a good thing that could help us in the future. I have two farms where I planted eucalyptus, cinnamon, cloves, and pines. I don’t know exactly how many trees I’ve planted, but they cover two acres of land in total.
Before joining this project, I used to grow maize. Now, I have added carrots and strawberries to my farm. Carrots and strawberries are what people here in Tulo grow the most to take to the market. I have a carrot farm here, and the other farm where I’ve mixed in strawberries is just nearby, too.
We send our products to the market in Kingalu twice a week. From the farm, we carry them ourselves to Ruvuma, and then we use motorbikes to take them to the city center. We don’t go with the motorbike; the driver takes the products and brings us the money when he comes back.
I’ve been farming carrots for a long time, but I only started planting trees in April this year. My family has always grown maize for food, and we didn’t plant trees before. Now, I think planting trees will help us in the future. The trees are only three months old, but I’m happy with what we’re doing. It’s good work.”
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