MUSHROOMS AND MORE! KIBIRA PROJECT

We have been working in Kibira Forest since last August, reviving over 150 square miles of land that hosts both dwindling trees and exploitive agriculture practices by those trying to survive. We are beginning to see sprouts of progress.

One of the Batwa communities started to cultivate mushrooms. At first they grew just 542 bunches. But could it be the beginning of something – a cash crop perhaps? Working alongside our agriculture specialist they learned how to grow it in a way that did not take away from the land, but actually enriched it. The 36 Batwa farmers took the lessons from the training and got busy. To date they have harvested over 800 pounds of mushrooms! They are on track to cultivate more than 30,000 bunches this year, a sustainable income that benefits farmers and families alike. This is part of our work in Kibira Forest, helping with economic empowerment for the Batwa communities so they can make a good living without exploiting the forest.

When it comes to the forest itself, we began with nurseries. In August we started to grow, from seeds, four different varieties of trees and shrubs that are indigenous to the Kibira Forest. We nurtured over 1,400,000 plants in the last set of months, tending to them with care. So far we have successfully planted 1,200,000 of them! Reforestation is happening, which is good news for the communities who depend on this land for their livelihoods. It is also good news for Burundi at large, as this forest is the lung system for the entire nation.

This is what it

Looks

like to transform land and lives in the Burundian rain forest!