A planting session in Vietnam. Photo Planting on Demand People can make a one-time donation or take a subscription to support the planting of food-producing trees in the Global South. The tree-planting sessions are live-streamed, says Sofia Bursic (MSc student in Resilient Farming and Food Systems), operational manager at the start-up. She is one of the three WUR students involved.
Nine months ago, Bursic replied to a job vacancy, was hired, and started working at the Wageningen start-up Planting On Demand. ‘Now I am responsible for finding new planting partners across Africa, Asia, and South America, organizing meetings with them and coordinating live planting sessions.’ The search for planting partners mainly takes place online, she continues. ‘Via Google, Instagram and LinkedIn. Sometimes organisations also contact us themselves to discuss a possible collaboration.’ Planting On Demand does not immediately partner with every organisation, she adds. ‘We have a number of criteria that partners must meet. For example, we want the organisation’s head office to be located in the same country where the trees are planted, so that the initiatives are truly bottom-up and locally rooted.’
The idea of Planting On Demand is simple, she explains. ‘People choose an amount that they can spare once or every month, and with that they contribute to the live, fair, and transparent planting of food-producing trees. Ninety percent of the money they contribute goes directly to the tree planting process.’ Currently, donors contribute to all projects, Bursic tells. ‘In the future, supporters might be able to choose the specific project and country they want to support.’
Livestreaming
The tree-planting sessions can be followed via livestreams. Bursic: ‘This way, we enable contact between the donors and the tree planters. People can ask each other – and us – questions and learn from each other.’ Plant partners purchase local saplings to plant. ‘Or they have their own nursery. We like to support partners who manage their own nurseries, as this contributes to greater autonomy.’ One of the recent livestreamed planting sessions can be viewed here.
Impressions from planting sessions in Malawi, Vietnam and Uganda:
There have been 15 planting sessions since the first one in Tanzania, last October. ‘Each planting session is unique. Tanzania was a big one, with a thousand trees planted by local farmers, but recently we had a nice session on a smaller scale with a community project in Vietnam, where they only had the capacity for one hundred trees.’ In total, 5,794 food trees have been planted in six different countries across the Global South, says Bursic.
Planting On Demand is not the only organisation in the world that plants trees. Bursic: ‘We distinguish ourselves through our decolonial approach: instead of a top-down approach, we invest time and effort in building meaningful relationships with our planting partners and let them decide for themselves what they want to plant and how. They are in charge.’
Looking for ideas
The students of Planting On Demand are looking for other funding opportunities in addition to the subscription model. ‘Grants, for example, or with a plugin that allows online store customers to plant a tree for a small fee when they place an order. We are always looking for fresh ideas. So if you have one, please reach out to us via email.’
