Acorn Media, the parent company of Acacia, is partnering with CARE to implement an agroforestry project in one of Kenya's poorest regions, benefiting thousands of farmers and resulting in the planting of 330,000 trees and the protection of natural resources for the region. The distance is vast – over 7,000 miles between Acorn Media headquarters and Nyanza Province, Kenya, and yet, the impact on a community several thousand miles away is both immediate and lasting.
Women in Nyanza, responsible for domestic energy needs, have had to travel dangerous routes to gather firewood. Reducing the time spent collecting wood means women and girls will not only be safer, but will have more time to pursue formal education and economic opportunities.
Once grown, the trees enhance the soil's fertility, improving crop output and putting more food on the family table – and in the market.
Market sales of crop outputs, fruit from the planted trees and wood products enhance family revenue.
The result: Parents can afford school fees for their children, farmers can diversify their incomes and communities can mobilize their increased savings.
The seedlings will help a community become better-educated and healthier, with greater economic opportunities. After three years, nearly 2,000 households will earn incomes that are at least 25 percent higher than the baseline of $1 a day from market sales. 10,000 people – half of them women and girls – living in a desperately poor region of Kenya will realize sustainable benefits from the generosity of Acorn Media.
