While deforestation no doubt takes an extreme toll on our environment, in poverty-stricken areas where water and crops are scarce, the negative effects are already unfolding, causing extreme harm to the people who depend on the land for survival.
In Malawi, communities are experiencing land degradation due to deforestation. Trees release water vapor into the atmosphere and provide shade to keep soil from drying out. Deforestation means soil erosion and a lack of water in these communities, so Outreach International is taking serious action to improve environmental conditions.
Fed up with the negative climate changes deforestation brought their communities, 420 residents from the villages of Muyeheri and Zagodola joined together to discuss a method of change. The lack of rainfall caused by deforestation was greatly affecting crop growth, causing the lean months to be even more damaging.
Beginning a five-year program, Outreach is helping these communities plant roughly 3,000 trees each year. By clearing and preparing land every year, digging holes, transplanting, pruning, weeding, spraying and cultivating, the project will benefit 844 people.
As a side project, the families of Muyeheri and Zagodola are also raising goats to maintain a supplementary source of income during the lean months. Using goat feces as a fertilizer, the reforestation process moves a bit quicker while also providing nutritious milk during a time of low harvest.
Field coordinators are consistently monitoring the project, ensuring operations continue running smoothly. Village members are already seeing improvements with renewable wood available for heating and cooking and increased income.
