Written by Sanja Stankovic

 

We all want to end the hunger in the world but the main question is what are we doing about it?

Few global charity organizations decided to ACT and reduce the hunger worldwide and they inspire people all over the word to join their initiative – The Fruit Tree Plantation Drive.

Guided and inspired by Mohanji, an internationally renowned humanitarian and philanthropist, Ammucare Charitable Trust (India), Mohanji Foundation and ACT Foundation are dedicated to the drive of planting fruit bearing trees under the movement of sustenance for all beings beyond species.  The reason why those organizations decided to plant the fruit bearing trees is because they will not just provide shelter and green cover to Mother Earth, but also provide food to all beings – human, animals, birds, free food for hungry and continue to serve generations to come. 

“Fruit tree plantation is not just an act of kindness, it is a social responsibility. This is giving the fruits of kindness to the coming generations beyond species. Fill the forests with fruit trees. Plant more fruit trees in and around your city. It brings sweet grace to our lives beyond time.Planting fruit trees in forest areas, will keep the wild animals in their habitat as they will have enough food and they won’t come to the human areas.”Mohanji

 

About Ammucare 
Ammucare is a registered non-profit organisation established in India in 2003 by Mohanji. Ammucare provides resources and services such as food, shelter, clothing, medical care, education and other means of support that empower and uplift the helpless and needy.  Based out of Palakkad in Kerala, the trust has grown beyond regional barriers. Accepted and encouraged by a wide spectrum of people from different parts of the world, Ammucare now works throughout the world to extend care universally to all the children of Mother Earth. As a charity platform Ammucare presents an opportunity to like-minded people who wish to contribute towards society to channelise their efforts, resources and donations.https://www.ammucare.org/

 

About ACT Foundation
ACT Foundationis a global charity community which operates in a growing number of countries across all five continents of the world. ACT works to serve humanity, help the helpless, give dignity to the poor and give opportunities to the less fortunate.

The MISSION of ACT Foundation is to provide care for the less fortunate, alleviate all forms of poverty and protect the environment through direct action, education, and empowerment.https://actfoundation.org/

 

Worldwide Challenges to Be Tackled

The number of people affected by hunger globally has been on the rise for several years now. According to World Food Program statistics (https://www.wfp.org/),nearly 690 million people are hungry, or 8.9 percent of the world population.Also, low-income countries rely more on staple foods and less on fruits and vegetables than high-income countries. Only in Asia, and globally in upper-middle-income countries, there are enough fruits and vegetables available for human consumption to be able to meet the FAO/WHO recommendation of consuming a minimum of 400 g/person/day. Globally, only one in three children 6 to 23 months of age meets the recommended minimum dietary diversity, with wide variation among the regions of the world and a diet quality is negatively affected by food insecurity. In addition, WFP emphasizes that adoption of plant-based dietary patterns would reduce the social cost of ghg emissions by 41–74 percent in 2030. The Fruit Tree Plantation Drive is dedicated to tackling those issues that are affecting our planet on a global scale. 

 

 

Target and Expected Impact 

This sustenance movement aims to drive an impact on the environment and all the living beings. It is planned for 100.000 trees to be planted globally. Countries that already started with plantation are: India, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and many more are starting in September-October like Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey, Colombia and South Africa. Planted trees with various fruits will ensure that food is provided to many future generations. Plantation drive will decrease the harm of the deforestation and mitigate the water scarcity and lack of rainfall issues. Availability of various fruit trees will improve dietary patterns of many people for whom fruits are not available which affects their health severely.

To Ensure Sustainability of Communities

Leaders of the project are planning to provide sustainable contribution to communities that will be included in the project. They plan to search for plantation spaces within schools, pathways, along rivers/canals, boundaries of ponds etc. Also, in rural areas, villagers will get an opportunity to take a part in plantation activities as well as maintenance of the trees afterwards. Of course, they will enjoy the fruits of their work for many years to come.

 

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” (Chinese proverb)

 

We asked Subhasree Totungal, a global leader of the Fruit Tree Plantation Drive, how she got inspiration to start this project: “The Fruit Tree Plantation Drive is unique in many ways. When Mohanji explained us about how it’s not just about providing a green cover to Earth rather facilitating food for all beings for generations to come. Our first thought is always for our mankind. Mohanji talked about birds, about wild animals, who often step out of their habitat to human encroached areas in search of food and often get killed! Allowing the animals to be in their habitat with a constant supply of food. Allowing birds to have their food supply. And of course, the benefit to mankind is multifold. Mohanji’s words touched our soul. The next moment, this became a global drive. In true sense, global. Beyond boundaries, climate, economic situation, many people came forward to join the drive and make a difference to their location, their country. When there is conviction, there is passion and follows the success beating all challenges. And yet another point to share with the readers, Mohanji not only inspires all of us by his words, but also through his actions. He reached Slovenia in end of April and just before there was lock down starting, instead of wasting time, he was at the Slovenia Mohanji Peace Center land, planting some fruit trees himself!”

Whomever wants to join the movement, support is welcome in many ways:

  • Provide space for plantation
  • Provide Saplings for plantation
  • Provide workforce for plantation and maintenance activities
  • Provide sponsorship for the plantation drive
  • Any other way of supporting or starting initiative in your country

 

Find out more: http://www.fruittreeplantation.org/

There is a saying by Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan social and environmental activist:

 

“A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded and that no matter how high we go; it is from our roots that we draw sustenance”. A Fruit Tree Plantation Drive project reminds us that we cannot improve as a civilization until we solve the basic challenges of a humanity. And those are hunger and environmental issues. We hope that this initiative will serve as a role model to many organizations and individuals worldwide and bring a positive impact in the world.

 

Author: Sanja Stankovic, TAT Editorial Team

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