In 2009, a partial drought resulted in crop failure in Niger. As a result, millions of people are now facing starvation. P4K created the Trees for Kids program to respond to this famine. Locally adapted trees, less sensitive to drought than annual cereals, are being grafted to produce nutritious fruits and help feed the population.

 

The Jujubier Tree

A small tree with lots of potential

  • Jujubier is a small tree that grows wild all over the Sahel region where Niger is situated
  • Wild Jujubier trees produce small fruit in relatively low yields
  • The Jujubier tree was domesticated in India. This domesticated variety, produces fruit ten times the size of the wild variety
  • The International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) introduced the Indian Jujubier to Niger, calling it the Pomme du Sahel (the Apple of the Sahel)
  • The Pomme du Sahel fruit is delicious and highly nutritious. It contains ten times more Vitamin C compared to apples and can be eaten fresh or dry
  • Wild Jujubier trees are grafted* with the Pomme du Sahel variety in June and July and produce their first fruit in November five months after grafting. Each mature tree gives a fruit yield of 20kg per year

*Grafting is the process of uniting a short length of stem of one plant onto the rootstalk of a different plant.

How the Project Works

In 2009, ICRISAT started a project leading to the grafting of wild Jujubier trees in farmers’ fields in Niger. P4K partners with ICRISAT and trains a group of young people from each village, supplying them with grafting tools and the shoots of the Pomme du Sahel varieties. Farmers pay these young grafters to graft their trees and maintain them for a period of one year. This simple approach allows for the grafting of thousands of wild Jujubier trees providing a nutritous food source, while supplying youth with a means to generate income and help their community.

Here's how you can help

Donate $10 or more to support the training of future farmers and grafters. Graft a tree, save a child!

Make an Online Donation - it's safe and easy to do

This Donate button will take you to Canada Helps, the secure charity that processes our donations and the donations of thousands of other Canadian Charities. You can then make donations on your own behalf or in memory or honour of someone else. We also invite you to think about donating stocks and securities to P4K through Canada Helps. Canada Helps will issue an automatic tax receipt which can be used by Canadians, and will notify us of your donation.

Spread the Word

Send this flier to your friends, family, post in your classroom or work and help the people of Niger!

How to Donate

Download our Overview

Learn about Pencils for Kids and how you can make a difference.

Contact Us

Do you want to sponsor any of our projects, such as a school, library, kindergarten or a scholarship for a girl?


Inspirational Story

Bayley, a ten year old student at a French Immersion School in Toronto who was a pen pal with a student in Liboré, was so moved by the plight of children in Niger, she raised enough money to purchase 40 backpacks to send over to Liboré.