Addressing the fundamental causes of poverty is at the core of KOMAZA's mission. We have identified tree farming as a way to do this by helping poor farm families address a major market demand and an important environmental concern. Learn about the issues we recognize as central to our work and how we turn these problems into opportunity.
Social Need
Hundreds of millions of Africans live in absolute poverty and rely on farming as their means of survival. Many depend on a small set of low-value crops which too often fare poorly due to low soil quality and erratic rainfall. Our trees are a high-value, low-risk cash crop that thrive in such environments. Tree farming offers the opportunity for poor farmers to broaden the range of crops they cultivate while reducing risk and dramatically boosting their incomes.
Market Need
Timber is a stable commodity with a constantly growing demand worldwide. In Kenya and across East Africa, the demand for timber far outstrips that which can be sustainably supplied. KOMAZA empowers our farmers to help seize this market opportunity while improving their livelihoods.
Environmental Need
Existing timber demand has put a tremendous strain on the indigenous forests which are an important resource to East African countries. Rampant deforestation has plagued the region, destroying habitats, depleting natural resources and removing important biological carbon sinks. KOMAZA's tree farming project offers the opportunity to provide timber sustainably, thus easing the strain on our environment and removing harmful greenhouse gases from our atmosphere.
Where We Work
The social, market and environmental needs for our project could not be more present in Kenya's Kilifi district, which we have chosen as KOMAZA's initial base of operations. Kilifi is among Kenya's poorest districts, where the unchecked felling of trees has left very little forest cover. It is also situated between the Kenyan cities of Mombasa and Malindi, where timber is in heavy demand.
