Alland & Robert launches foundation to safeguard Sub-Saharan Africa’s environment and communities

19 May 2021 --- Acacia gum manufacturer Alland & Robert has established a company foundation to support communities in Sub-Saharan Africa and preserve the African environment. Its first project is a partnership with the non-governmental organization (NGO) Tree Aid to help reverse desertification. 

Tree Aid focuses its efforts on the reforestation of African drylands as a participant in the Great Green Wall initiative, which aims to stop the advance of the Sahara.

Among its targets, the African Union-led Great Green Wall plans to grow trees across an 8,000 km portion of land, which stretches across 20 countries found within the Sub-Saharan zone. The Great Green Wall initiative began in 2007.

Forty-six percent of African land is degraded, jeopardizing the livelihoods of nearly two-thirds of the continent’s population, the initiative flags. 

Violaine Fauvarque, marketing manager, tells NutritonInsight, “The foundation operates independently from Alland & Robert. Our sole objective is to support African communities and fight the desertification of lands, droughts or lack of access to services such as schools, hospitals or water. ”

“Our CEO Frédéric Alland has been traveling to several African countries for over 35 years. Frédéric Alland has witnessed the impacts of the climate crisis and the rapid degradation of the natural environment. Alland & Robert wants to act and create a concrete impact. The creation of a foundation to structure and make our actions credible was the best option for the company.”

Impact on communities 
Climate change leads the local populations deeper into poverty as it destroys food crops. This, in turn, endangers the livelihood of the young and future generations to come. 

The Alland Company Foundation’s priorities include supporting local communities –⁠ particularly women in terms of education, health and infrastructure –⁠ and the preservation of the African environment and biodiversity, especially in the countries where the company operates.

“The damage linked to desertification and drought is considerable in the Sahel. Local populations, biodiversity and environment are equally affected,” Alland & Robert states. 

Communities face major challenges to access to drinking water or healthcare. “Children do not always attend school, and there are not enough schools. The Alland Company Foundation will support projects that address these critical issues, and ultimately help families lift themselves out of poverty,” it maintains. 

“The foundation will also support women who occupy a central economic, social and cultural role within local communities,” remarks Anne-Sophie Alland, head of strategy & development at Alland & Robert, in charge of the creation of the company foundation. Biodiversity and the environment are set to be replenished.

Change across three countries
Over the last year, Alland & Robert took steps to reduce poverty in the Koulikoro region of Mali, establish effective community forest administration in Niger and support the ecosystems of Ethiopia. 

The Koulikoro region of Mali lost 86 percent of its forests to deforestation in ten years.

The population struggles to grow enough crops to sustain the income and health of their families. 

Alland & Robert supports a project aiming to train over 400 farmers to grow and protect trees and restore degraded lands. 

Since 2017, Tree Aid has been working on restoring Koulikoro and it has recorded a 34 percent decrease in poverty in the households it works with. 

In Ethiopia, over 90,000 hectares of forests are being cut down every year, the initiative states.

Alland & Robert supports a project in Dugda-Meki that helps people to restore their local environment, build sustainable businesses and grow nutritious food. 

Last year, UK food brand Aduna also announced a partnership with the Great Green Wall initiative to establish a global supply chain of baobab. This African superfruit is worth US$1 billion and profits can sustain the livelihood of up to ten million households in the region. 

By Nicole Kerr