In the first half of 2020, we planted more than 60,000 new trees in our nurseries. We use these trees in many different ways: some for their fruit or leaves, some for their wood, and some because they create shady places for our workers, a balanced ecosystem in our orchards and fields, and a beautiful landscape. This year, we planted:
- 10,000 Gmelina arborea. This is locally called “yeamani", or “yamane" and is a kind of beech, fast growing, tall and straight, making it perfect for use in constructing trellises to support the fruit vines and temporary structures of all kinds.
- 5,000 Delonix Regia. The “royal poinciana" is a beautiful, flowering tree that provides great shade. It’s actually a member of bean family.
- 10,000 Mangifera indica. Mango is a secondary production crop for Wangu Farms. We produce mangoes for sale in the local markets and wholesale as a bulk delivery service but the majority of our manoges go to our juice and pulp factory. Our farmers and their families tend to eat a fair share of our mangoes each year, and we are delighted to share all they can eat.
- 10,000 Anacardium occidentale, the Cashew tree. It’s pretty obvious why we plant cashew: we all love to eat them. But in addition to harvesting its delicious and nutritious nut, we enjoy the shade that the tree provides on our farms. Our cousins to the south in Côte d’Ivoire produce over 700,000 tonnes of cashews each year, primarily for export. We think Sierra Leone can top them.
- 10,000 Azadirachta indica, “Neem", is in the mahogany family. It is a relatively fast-growing hardwood, drought-resistent, and it’s leaves are good for soups and as an herbal remedy for certain ailments. We especially like Neem for the lovely smell of its flowers when it is in bloom.
- 10,000 Moringa oleifera. We harvest the leaves of the Moringa for making nutritious soups and pull ben oil from the roots. We use the trees themselves to help balance the soil chemistry in our orchards. We also enjoy the fragrant flowers and we use them as a natural pesticide on our farms.
- 3,000 Tamarindus indica. We believe that the Tamarind fruit is one of the essential ingredients in Sierra Leone’s quest for food independence.
- 500 Spice trees.
- 5,000 Gliricidia sepium which we use to shade some of our other crops, for fencing material, and as a fertilizer.
- 500 Annona montana, the “soursop".
- 2,500 Albizia lebbeck. We use this Albizia for shade and to prevent erosion. It’s also lovely to behold.
- 500 Artocarpus heterophyllus, the “jack fruit" is useful in all ways. The fruits are delicious, the wood is a carpenter’s dream, and the shade it provides and the aroma of its flowers make it a pleasant place to work and to relax.
