INVEST IN AFRICA’S FUTURE BY PLANTING THE SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITY

The goal for All for Africa’s Palm Out Poverty campaign is to raise $20 million by 2010, enabling us to plant one million oil palm trees on approximately 17,000 acres of land in Africa.

Once mature these trees will yield 300,000 barrels of crude palm oil annually for the next 30 years while absorbing more than 28,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. Palm oil is used for numerous food and non-food applications but primarily it is consumed as an edible vegetable oil. At current price projections these trees will generate more than $750 million for funding of organizations already working in Africa.

These one million trees will be divided up into 700 individual oil trusts – each trust consisting of 1,500 trees on 25 acres of land. The initial cost to establish a trust is $30,000, or $20 per tree. This includes the cost of seeds, fertilizer and the expertise necessary to plant, row, maintain and harvest the palm oil. Each of these “trusts” will generate anticipated annual revenues of $35,000 over a period of 30 years. This revenue, in turn, will provide funding for the beneficiary awarded that trust – which might be a school, a health facility, a vocational training center or other community-based initiatives working across the continent. This continuous stream of revenue will permit organizations to focus on expansion and new efforts while maintaining their day-to-day operations.

The Palm Out Poverty campaign is not only groundbreaking in its simplicity – but even more so in its sustainability. The campaign is supported by the efforts of SG Sustainable Oils Holdings, Ltd., which is already developing oil palm projects in Africa. Not only does the Palm Out Poverty campaign bring economic support and sustainability to the communities where the trees are being planted – it extends its reach across the continent into 700 additional communities, creating jobs and infrastructure where organizations, charities and individuals are already working to make a difference.