Our farmers have been born into lives with almost no opportunities. Where we work in rural Kenya, $300 a year must be stretched to support a family of eight; children cannot afford to complete their schooling; women walk for miles to fetch water; healthcare is inaccessible. Although they typically own 10 to 20 acres of land, the dry, degraded soil fails to sustain them. Out of options, families cut down indigenous trees for money.
For years, families have been locked into a vicious cycle. As poverty drives them to cut down trees, their land becomes even worse and they fall deeper into poverty.
The economic challenge our farmers face is at the core of a wider set of challenges, from nutrition and education to AIDS and conflict. To break the cycle of extreme poverty, families must find a way to transform their only asset – their land – into a sustainable source of income.