Aster Afwork Gebrekirstos

"Trees tell us a lot about climate and ecological history, because they are the oldest living things on the planet and can live up to 4000 years."

"At the moment, we have many, many indigenous trees in the tropics, but we are selecting very few for restoration – we’re mostly planting exotic trees like eucalyptus, grevillea, and cypress."

"Because in temperate regions, you have clear climate seasonality – in winter, everything is dormant – so the growing period is very well-marked."

"The formation of this working group is just the beginning. It’s a platform for identifying the methods, sampling techniques."

"Trees are like people. Some species, some are opportunists. In good times they spend and grow like crazy. Some really conservative they grow better in difficult years. And the conservative tree could better cope with climate change."

"I have learned how farmers have changed in the last ten years. They are open and keen to use new technologies."

"We do not expect the Africa RISING project to establish on farm demonstrations or reach all the farmers in the village at once, and we also know the project will terminate after few years. But if you could train a few farmers, introduce improved varieties, technologies in the next few years others will follow in adopting the technology, we will have access to purchase seed and seedlings from our fellow farmers so this is what we expect from the project."