Farmers and CMD staff stand in the shade of a pawpaw tree in Renk County. (-)

Empowered by Christian Mission for Development (CMD), Renk County residents are planting trees to conserve the environment and enhance livelihoods as experts encourage more engagement in agroforestry.

Through its Resilience for Agriculture and Livelihood Project (RALP) funded by World Bank through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, CMD has reached over 120 tree growers in Renk County some of whom were already engaging in tree planting and agroforestry.

The farmers were supported through trainings, provision of tree seeds and farming tools. The trainings were done jointly by CMD, FAO and County forestry department.

Formation and Training of the TPA group in Jalhak center – the group comprised of mainly women and youths. (Photo: Lual Deng) February 2023.

Germination test was carried by the seed quality control board in Renk to ascertain their viability.

“I would like to really encourage the communities in Renk County here to embark on agroforestry as a means of improvement of their livelihood,” said Martin Tabiolo, deputy head of field office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

While sharing some of the benefits of agroforestry, Tabiolo said “from agroforestry, they will be able to benefit a lot in terms of food production because through agroforestry, the soil will be improved for production and once they harvest their crops.”

“They would also at the same time be able to harvest forest product for their various uses for constructions, uses as handle for tools and be used for further production and through agroforestry, itself they will be able to restore degraded forest land by planting out trees in those degraded areas,” he added.

Renk county is covered by small trees including the thorny bushes and acacia trees. Previously, it had limited number of community members involved in tree planting.

But through this new intervention in the county, the tree growers have transplanted over 1,000 trees in different payams. Some of the common fruit trees planted include Guava, Mango, lemon, Pawpaw among many other types of trees.

Mr. Tabiolo said some of the best practices that contribute to the successful establishment and long-term health of fruit trees and other woody plants requires good soil quality which is suitable for the specific tree species.

He also advises digging of a hole that is wide and deep enough to accommodate the root system, regular watering schedule and also place fencing to protect young trees from wildlife and other damage.

“You should really keep the nursery hygienically clean to prevent pests from attacking your seedlings.” Tabiolo said.

“Key of all is also the perimeter fence that has to be constructed to prevent transposases.”

“For a seedbed, the width should me 1 meter or 80cm wide then the length of the seedbed it can go to even if you want 100 meters even more than 100 meters, but it depends, it could be 1meter by 1 meter, 2 meters etc that is for the seedbed always. Then the space between two seedbeds should also be about 80cm to 1 meter.”

Martin John, the Deputy Chairperson for Gerger Tree Plant Group said: trees are important especially in conserving the environment and have a lot of benefits in years to come.

“CMD organization is taking lead in this initiative has really helped us to plant more trees in this place and this is in addition to the vegetables that we have been planting,” he said.

Eliza Nyibol, the 55-year-old mother of eight is among the 30 group members of Gerger Tree Plant group in Renk County, Upper Nile State.

Nyibol always joined the rest of the group members to plant fruit trees at Gerger demonstration farm where they use goat manure, a valuable organic fertilizer to enhance soil fertility and promote the healthy growth of trees.

“Since morning, we came to plant trees in the demonstration farm as you can see in this garden, this is our work and if we get a good harvest, it will help our children in providing fruits and shade in future,” said the mother of eight children.

– Renk agroforestry –

Renk County has nearly half of its land covered in savannah forests and rangelands which are under low management and some damaging deforestation activities.

Among the usage of forestry in the county is charcoal production, firewood collection, tapping of gum Arabic, fodder, hunting and pod, fruits and leaves collection.

According to CMD, inadequate management of rangelands and forestry has led to decline of the forestry within the county.

Establishment and maintenance of forestry, woodlands and rangelands formed part of Resilience Agriculture and Livelihoods Project (RALP) in Renk County and targets to increase areas under trees in Renk county and sensitize the community to manage well the existing forests.

The project formed 4 Tree Planting and Agroforestry (TPA) farmer groups each comprising of 30 farmers making a total of 120 members.

The farmers were trained on importance of tree planting and agroforestry, steps in establishment and maintenance of tree nurseries, transplanting and maintenance of forests, woodlands and rangelands.

“The 4 TPA farmers groups have been allocated land at various locations, one at Gerger, another one in Renk North another one in Molbok and another one in Jalhak. They have established nursery beds on some of these sites and have transplanted over 1,000 seedlings” said Elizabeth Otunga, the Food Security and Livelihood Manager, Christian Mission for Development said.

“Sustainable management of forests, woodlands and rangelands calls for collective responsibility from the community, county forestry department and humanitarian actors. Everyone should plant and take care of at least one tree and for every tree cut, one or two trees should be plante to replace it.”

Locals in Molbok Boma of Jalhak Payam, situated about 70 km south of Renk town, have also welcomed the initiave of planting fruit trees and other woody trees, saying it plays crucial roles in the environment, agriculture, and human well-being.

Commending CMD for implementing the tree planting and agroforestry project in Renk County, Molbok resident, Deng Guot said he is happy to be among those who have benefited through the skills gained.

“I am very happy with the coming of CMD who have come to our area to empower and support us to plany trees, and they have given us a lot of skills as well,” Mr Guot said.

“We therefore appealing to the government and other NGOs to come and help us plant more trees.”

Another Molbok resident, Awek Deng Achol said, “if trees are planted, our area will look green, and we will have good shade and it will provide for us fruits where you can get anytime without going far.”

The Renk County forestry department however advises the local population to enhance tree productivity citing its economic viability, and environmental sustainability.

Akomjo Ajang, Renk County Director of Forestry said agroforestry helps in reducing reliance on a single source of income citing it also help mitigate the impact of climate change.

“We mainly guide and advice farmers to protect the forests around them so that they can cultivate,” Akomjo said.

“Tress can bring money to the farmers like the Mahogany and teak tree including fruits garden can generate money for them.”

“So, when FAO came to Renk and in partnership with the government they opened a demonstration farm in Renk County, and this garden is addressing some of the needs of the people in terms of fruit trees.”