Plant with Purpose is on a mission to restore watersheds and empower farmers. Through regenerative farming techniques and native tree planting, they are fighting climate change and improving crop yields.
Plant with Purpose operates in eight countries with the goal of creating locally-led initiatives that restore the environment and progress communities. The organization was founded to serve communities that prioritize a healthy relationship with the environment.
“Plant with Purpose collaborates with rural farmers, equipping them with tools and support to solve poverty and environmental damage in their region. Our work follows eight principles: faith, collaboration, empowerment, innovation, stewardship, sustainability, trust and urgency. Our work is rooted in restoring relationships between people and the planet. We want our work to tackle two of the world’s most prominent and interconnected problems, which are poverty and environmental damage,” shared Programs Officer for Africa, Annah K. Amani.
Plant with Purpose has worked for over 35 years to reverse deforestation and poverty. The organization initiated “Purpose Groups”, bringing neighbors together to learn, collaborate and encourage one another. With funding from TerraFund for AFR100, an initiative of World Resources Institute, One Tree Planted, and Realize Impact that finances Africa's top restoration enterprises and projects, the organization is working closely with farmers to protect and restore the watersheds of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
With this grant and in partnership with local communities, Plant With Purpose is facilitating rural families of whom 77% are women farmers, and students to plant and care for 531,915 trees across three sub-watersheds in South Kivu, DRC. Through its “Purpose Groups”, the organization empowers women as decision-makers and successful farmers in their communities, and provide training to improve crop yields, reforest land, and increase personal agency and environmental stewardship. The organization received another grant from TerraFund for AFR100 to implement a similar project in Burundi. Read more about the latter here.
The “Purpose Groups” each operate a farmer field school to train members, savings groups to help them build wealth, reforest land to protect the environment, and spiritual encouragement to tap into the community’s deep faith. The organization’s efforts are directed towards restoring the environment through regenerative farming techniques that help mitigate climate change, benefiting both the current and future generations. By utilizing these techniques, farmers can achieve 37% higher crop yields, leading to improved quality of life and higher incomes.
Plant with Purpose’s 2021 Impact Report outlines the organization's restoration efforts since its inception in 2000. The organization has successfully planted 43,376,455 trees and is on track to plant 89,000,000 trees by 2025. To maximize impact, the organization focuses on restoring entire watersheds and has restored and protected 2.2 million hectares of land.
“Plant with Purpose has been able to plant more than 8 million trees each year and now is approaching 50 million total trees planted. We engage communities from farmers to youths and elders to reforest the watersheds within which they live and work. Tree cover has increased in all the watersheds where we are operational, growing at a global average of 0.39% per year,” highlighted Annah K. Amani.
Plant with Purpose continues to build a sense of ownership and purpose within their communities of impact. By depicting the value of preserving the environment, communities are able to see how they can harness the power of their natural resources.
