Bees and Trees Uganda -Youth Led Social Enterprise

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Nafees D and 2 others are organizing this fundraiser.

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In Uganda - deforestation and landslides have killed over 1,000 people, devastated crops, and left families starving. Entire communities are at risk of disappearing. Without urgent help, more lives will be lost, and the land will never recover.

Bees and Trees Uganda is a youth-led social enterprise working to safeguard nature and mend the climate by giving farmers an extra source of income in beekeeping and tree growing.

Background

In the shadows of Mt. Elgon National Park, farmers have long believed they must choose between trees and crops. They fear that trees are space-hungry competitors to their crops, and therefore cut them down to grow crops. This is visualised by barren farmlands that starkly contrast the lush national park in the satellite image below. The area also has a livelihood problem; Over 95% of the people depend on rain-fed agriculture as the only source of livelihood. Unfortunately, they are not spared by climate change disasters like floods, drought, and landslides. This often leaves them with no options, resorting to natural resources within the park, which leads to the degradation of the landscape.

The ripple effects go far beyond the farms. The trees enhance landscape restoration, fortify biodiversity, and assist in climate mitigation. The bees, nature’s tireless workers, pollinate & contribute to food production and ecological balance.

We have so far engaged over 120 farmers, provided 100 modern bee hives and planted 3080 trees and 2000 coffee seedlings in Bushika sub-county, Bududa district.

The Problem

Biodiversity loss, loss & damage, soil erosion and degradation, reduced food production, changes in the microclimate and landslides.

Important Statistics

At least 60% of Uganda's forest cover has been lost in the last 30 years, according to the National Forestry Authority’s most recent forestry inventory. This alarming trend directly exacerbates the country's vulnerability to climate change, potentially leading to catastrophic consequences.

In Bududa, over 95% of the population solely depends on rain-fed agriculture and have no alternative sources of livelihood; yet agriculture is not spared by climate-related disasters.

Landslides have killed at least 1,000 people over the past 10 years in the sub-region.

Our target:

To restore 25 acres of land by planting 5,000 trees with the smallholder farmers in Bushika Sub-county by November 2025. This will increase land productivity by 50%

To provide 300 beehives to the farmers. Beekeeping will increase farmer income by 50% by November 2025.

To provide 100,000 coffee seedlings to smallholder farmers by November 2025 this will enhance their incomes by 200% by November 2025

To increase awareness of 1000 households on sustainable land management by November 2025, which will reduce soil erosion by 70%.

Support a women’s group to establish a coffee and tree nursery to enhance their income opportunities. We will procure tree and coffee seedlings from the women’s group, thereby fostering economic independence. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to market their products to other community members, further strengthening their financial stability.

All this will increase on-farm biodiversity and re-green the landscape, mitigating landslides by 30% by 2030. This approach aligns with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration as well as several SDGs.

The record:

The project is beyond the ideation stage and to date we have distributed the first 100 modern beehives to two farmer groups and planted with them 3080 bee forage trees and 2000 coffee seedlings

We have also started to implement our business plan, buying honey and coffee from farmers, adding value, and selling to final consumers.

We have mapped over 1000 trees using the GainForest App.

Our Ask:

The project has so far been hugely successful. In order to scale this further, we have started this page. The aim of this is to raise $20,000 to implement the full project.

300 beehives at $30 each, totalling $9,000.

5,000 indigenous tree seedlings at $1 each, totalling $5,000.

100,000 coffee seedlings at $0.04 each, totalling $4,000.

Establishment of tree & coffee nursery for the women’s group at $2,000.

Total ask is $20,000

This will help us to fully implement our project by November 2025

A BREAKDOWN OF THE IMPACTS OF DONATING TO FARMERS AND INCENTIVES

Thank you for considering supporting the smallholder farmers. Your generosity makes a significant difference in their lives and the environment.

Below, you can find more details about the specific impact you can make through your donations, and the incentives to the donors.

1. Support a farmer with a number of beehives of your choice.

Your donation will help them secure an additional source of income through beekeeping while contributing to environmental conservation and food security.

2. Support a farmer with a number of trees of your choice.

Your donation will sponsor the planting of indigenous trees with farmers in Bududa, Uganda, aiding in bee foraging, reforestation efforts and promoting biodiversity.

3. Incentives to the donor.

The incentives attached to the donations are intended to ensure transparency and accountability to each of our esteemed donors, allowing them to track the impact of their donation on individual farmers. This includes availing them with information such as the name of the beneficiary farmer, GPS coordinates of each tree/ beehive, species of tree, annual report on the progress of the tree, satellite link to the planting site and images of the trees/ beehive donated. In the link, you can be able to view the spatial distribution of each of the tree(s)/beehive(s) that you donated. The beehives can be labelled with the donor's name on request.

*Sample*

https://maps.gainforest.app/7f7b643aca10dae0c71afc9910b3f67bff441504d97e0d90a12c40db5d2d02c1

By doing this, we can keep track of each donor’s contributions and ensure proper acknowledgement and communication regarding the impact of their donations.

Thank you for your support in helping Bees and Trees Uganda achieve its mission of creating communities where people live in harmony with nature.

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