Media Contact: Lindsay Cobb
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Email: Lindsay@trees.org
Agroforestry is Earth Day Hot Topic at United Nations
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research and Trees for the Future Workshop Partner to Meet the SDGs
April 22, 2019 (New York City) — Sustainable agriculture nonprofit Trees for the Future (TREES) is training international development leaders in agroforestry and regenerative agriculture to further the United Nations Global Goals.
In collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York Office, Trees for the Future’s hosted a special Earth Day workshop to cover optimizing space, time, and water in resource-light regions of the world where poverty and hunger are common.
“We work in regions where people have little or no access to water or supplies, surviving on less than a dollar a day,” says Trees for the Future Executive Director John Leary. “We have found a proven solution that gets the most out of the space, time, and resources available to smallholder farmers so that they’re able to support themselves and their families. These workshops are an opportunity to spread our knowledge to like-minded organizations and reach more people who can benefit from our strategies.”
The workshop was the last of a three-part series and focused on Diversification of Nutrition and Income. Participants from NGOs, the UN, and the private sector have had the opportunity to learn how to implement TREES’ Forest Garden model and share it with their own offices and organizations.
“We work with farmers to figure out what to grow and how to sell it in context with their communities and their local value chains,” Leary explains.
Attendees of the three series workshop spanned members of governments agencies, NGOs, the private sector, and academia.
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Trees for the Future is working to end hunger and poverty for smallholder farmers through revitalizing degraded lands. Learn more about Trees for the Future and see their latest data in the TREES 2018 Impact Report. To learn more about Trees for the Future’s Forest Garden Training Center, visit training.trees.org.
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is the dedicated training and capacity-building arm of the United Nations and has the mandate to enhance the effectiveness of the UN through diplomatic training. Through public awareness-raising, education, and training of public policy officials, UNITAR has focused on enhancing global decision-making and supporting country-level action, to create a world in which individuals, institutions, and organizations are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and capacities to overcome global challenges.
Contributing meaningfully to the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals requires us to rethink how our organizational capital is structured and interacts. The Institute continuously evolves to best match the needs of the diplomatic community and the UN Agenda. Under the leadership of Executive Director Mr. Nikhil Seth, UNITAR is implementing a wide range of activities across the development spectrum as introduced in its Strategic Framework 2018-2021. These are organized under five thematic pillars: Peace, People, Planet, Prosperity, and Cross-fertilizing Knowledge and Expertise.