$54 Million Over 40 Years: How Trees for the Future Made Carbon a Crop

<p><b>How Trees Helps Smallholder Farmers Build Prosperity and Restore Land</b></p><p></p><p>James Misner speaks with Cate from Trees about how a nature-based organization uses regenerative agriculture, trees, and local leadership to help smallholder farmers in East Africa improve soil health, diversify crops, and strengthen livelihoods. They also discuss why climate work is inseparable from people, how carbon markets fit into nonprofit revenue, and what happens when partnerships are not the right scaling strategy.</p><p></p><p><b>Key Topics</b></p><ul><li>Cate shares her career path from advertising to public health, consulting, and Trees, where her work combines curiosity, persuasion, community, and mission.</li><li>Trees uses trees as a starting point to support regenerative agriculture with smallholder farmers in Africa.</li><li>Its mission is twofold: restore land and unlock prosperity for farmers.</li><li>Cate explains farmer-led, locally rooted delivery, including informed consent and community-based support.</li><li>Farmers move from monocropping and degraded soils to diversified farms with 4–5 crops in year one and 12–15 by year three.</li><li>The model improves food security, dietary diversity, composting, pest management, savings, and market access.</li><li>Village savings and loans help farmers save, lend, and reinvest in their farms and communities.</li><li>Cate and James discuss why framing climate work through people makes funding more compelling.</li><li>Trees adapts its approach to local soil, education, markets, and gender norms across Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.</li><li>Cate explains why Trees moved away from broad partnerships when they began affecting quality and capacity.</li><li>The conversation closes with how carbon credits can generate additional revenue for farmers and Trees while requiring verification and long-term permanence.<p></p></li></ul><p><b>Timestamps</b></p><p>00:00 — Opening the conversation and Cate’s career path</p><p> 03:10 — What Trees is and why trees are only the starting point</p><p> 06:07 — How smallholder farmers experience the program</p><p> 08:22 — Farm redesign, composting, and integrated pest management</p><p> 09:45 — From diversified farms to savings groups and small businesses</p><p> 12:47 — Why climate work must be framed through people</p><p> 15:09 — Scaling across countries without losing local fit</p><p> 19:23 — The partnership model that did not work</p><p> 22:28 — Translating the story for donors