One of the nice things about blog carnivals like Tangled Bank is that they expose you to new voices that might otherwise remain unheard. Bankelele in Nairobi is one such. Being a banker, most of his posts are about banking and commerce. But one from almost a year back, Trees: a great investment was highlighted in the latest [tag]Tangled Bank[/tag].
It’s an interesting, gung-ho call for people in Kenya to plant trees, pointing out the kinds of returns people can expect, the obstacles — “Also one must also protect land from squatters, who may destroy trees for firewood, or to build homes in what they consider to be ‘unoccupied forest’ land, or whose grazing animals may eat young tree seedlings†— and the benefits offered by science, mostly in the shape of faster-growing varieties.
But given the presence of the World [tag]Agroforestry[/tag] Centre there in Bankelele’s backyard, I confess myself a little surprised that he didn’t either look at what they had to offer or, at the very least, point people at them. Trees are a really important component of agriculture with great returns that go way beyond the strictly financial. What would be wonderful to see would be local economists — and of course Bankelele may not be one — helping to put numbers to those returns, so that those looking at trees not purely as a financial investment would be encouraged to plant them too.
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Thanks for your comment and viewpoint and yes I am aware that the world agroforestry center is located here in Nairobi.
I write from a financial standpoint on various subjects. We are a country that largely depends on wood fuel in rural areas – and our forests have been largely decimated to less than 1.7% of the country now which is very sad since trees have many uses including traditional medicines, support communities and several endangered wildlife species.
My post was meant to encourage more people to grow more trees, by adding a profit incentive to forestry. So one can grow trees, preferably fast growing new hybrids, increase the forest cover, and harvest mature trees as they plant even more seedlings and repeat the cycle.
Thanks for stopping by.
I’m in favour of anything you can do to encourage people to plant trees. I just worry slightly about a couple of things. If people see trees purely as an investment opportunity, and plant your preferred fast growing new hybrids, few of the other benefits and uses you mention will be realized.
If smallholders add selected trees to the diversity on thier land, with or without advice from WAC and others, the purely financial returns may not be as great, but the overall benefits both interms of the uses you mention and other factors, would be much greater.