A Life Transformed By 2,000 Trees
For several years, Makesy has partnered with Trees for the Future, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training communities on sustainable land use so they can grow their economy, food systems, and contribute to a healthier planet.
For every $100 you spend with Makesy, a tree is planted through Trees for the Future and to date, they've planted more than 278 million trees!
meet Bassirou Seck
We've always known our contributions were helping with Trees for the Future's greater mission but when we heard the story of Bassirou Seck in Kaffine, Senegal, we had to share it with our maker community.
Bassirou started out farming on unhealthy soil and getting very little out of his land. He joined Trees for the Future's Forest Garden Training Program in 2018 and began to learn how to apply regenerative agroforestry practices to create thriving forest gardens.
He learned how to address different challenges and plant his way out of poverty and hunger. Bassirou says "“The Forest Garden will just keep growing if I work hard.”
On his farm, Bassirou has diversified his crop production so he can secure income and feed his family in every season and he's learned how to compost so he can avoid using synthetic fertilizers.
He's planted more than 2,000 trees which have transformed life for him and his family. His land provides shade for his crops, keeps moisture in his soils, and offers a wide variety of economic and nutritional benefits for his family.
Before joining the Forrest Garden program, Bassirou didn't see a future in farming his land. But now, just a few years later, he's harvesting a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and eggplant. This means he can help when someone is sick and his wife can sell produce at local markets which allows them to save money.
forest gardening
Bassirou is one of 41,000 farmers who are part of the Forest Gardening program, learning how to garden as means to a prosperous future. TREES is currently working not just in Senegal, but in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
In these areas, unsustainable agriculture practices have led to unproductive land; nutrient-scarce food systems; and farming families who are unable to grow and sell enough to meet their most basic needs.
With TREES Forest Garden approach, they've proven that agroforestry is a solution to each of these challenges, effectively ending hunger and poverty while restoring the land and environment.
You can read more about Bassirou's inspirational story here and the work of Trees for the Future.
