Name: Saving forests, sustaining lives: A new path in Mali
Uploaded: 2025-10-22T09:05:31.620Z
Duration: 2 min 53 s
Description: One man is proving forests can provide income without felling a single tree—offering a greener, more resilient future for rural communities in Mali.

One man is proving forests can provide income without felling a single tree—offering a greener, more resilient future for rural communities in Mali.

Bamako

In Bamako, Mali, the start-up Fori Fort, founded by agricultural engineer Ichaka Dembele, is producing a powder from baobab fruit that is both nutritious and popular among young people. The initiative aims to provide economic incentives for forest conservation by demonstrating that healthy, living trees can offer more value than those cut for firewood or charcoal.

The company works with women's cooperatives, offering fair wages for processing baobab pulp, and encourages a shift away from charcoal production. Fori Fort also runs a tree nursery and partners with the G4 Environment platform, which has planted over 10,000 trees with the help of more than 1,000 young volunteers, supporting both environmental restoration and sustainable livelihoods.

Saving forests, sustaining lives: A new path in Mali

A powder made from the fruit of the baobab tree, used to make a drink said to be both healthy and energizing. It's a huge hit with young customers. We're in Mali's capital Bamako. The powder is produced by Fori Fort, a start-up founded by agricultural engineer Ichaka Dembele. He aims to help both society and the environment. The powder is rich in vitamin C, calcium and other important nutrients. And what's good for people is good for Mali's forests. A forest that has economic value is a strong forest, hence the name Fori Fort Mali. Many of the country's forests have been decimated. Around 100 hectares of forests are lost every year. We believe that trees are only useful once dead or felled, for firewood or charcoal. This area was previously used by a charcoal burner. But healthy, strong trees are actually a much better source of income. Harvesting and processing their fruit can be a profitable business. Members of a women's cooperative sift the baobab pulp for Fori Fort until it's completely clean and turned to powder. They receive a fair wage for their work. Sanata Dagnon now regrets that she once destroyed trees to produce charcoal. I really urge the charcoal burners to change. It's time to stop this activity of charcoal burning and start working with non-wood forest products instead. Shea butter made from the fruit of shea trees is profitable. And so are the fruits of the baobab tree. These baobab seedlings were grown at Fori Fort's own nursery. Young volunteers help with reforestation, so that the next generation of strong trees can take root in Mali. In this way, we were able to develop a platform called G4 Environment, which planted more than 10,000 trees last year with over 30 organisations. We had a very encouraging success rate, and more than 1,000 young people were involved. For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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