1. Aid project: Tree Aid in Burkina Faso, country in The Sahel in Africa (www.treeaid.org.uk)
Need for aid
Villagers in Burkina Faso are effected by the vicious cycle of drought in The Sahel leading to poverty, famine and environmental destruction which needs to be broken, for example, 3 million people at risk from food shortage in 2005.
Donor and receiving countries
The donor (giver of aid) is Tree Aid, an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) and is the UK’s only forestry development charity and received £1.25 million in voluntary donations in The receivers (beneficiaries of aid) are 1000 village partnerships in Burkina Faso, LEDC in W. Africa.
Nature of aid
The aid is long term developmental and aims to make communities sustainable (meeting the needs of people now and in the future whilst limiting the harm to the environment). Many projects are 3-5 years in length and focus on one of 3 aspects:
Forestry – setting up tree nurseries, protect trees and improve soil and water conservation
Money – helping villagers to make money from the things that grow on trees e.g. shea butter
Food – developing local knowledge to produce and store tree foods to feed local people
Effectiveness of aid
1) Tatus Azure, farmer in northern Burkina Faso. Tree Aid helped me to set up an orchard, get a donkey cart so I can carry drums of water, firewood and crops or even hire out the cart. I have planted 150 cashew and 40 mango trees so I can feed my family and sell the extra fruit to pay for pens and books for the education of my children so investing in their future and quality of life. The trees in the orchards bind the soil together, the leaves provide shade so reducing the baking and eroding of the soil and they intercept rainfall so reducing surface run off and soil wash away.
2) Aicha, farmer in southern Burkina Faso. She is planting mango trees and would like to sell fruit to British supermarkets but they pay a low price and she cannot afford expensive fertiliser on her own. Tree Aid has moved on to invest in other villages so is unavailable to help.