Created as a response to land degradation issues resulting from slash-and-burn agriculture, uncontrolled bush fires, and overgrazing, Amical Bè Ôko is a three-village initiative that focuses on the reforestation of the degraded banks of the Kpaya River with palm and fruit-bearing trees to improve local health, nutrition, and food security. Reforestation efforts have restored ecosystem functioning in this once degraded landscape. The natural cycles of the Kpaya River have normalized, providing local communities with water access during the dry season. In order to meet critical health and nutrition needs in the villages, the initiative has developed an innovative formula that combines Bambara groundnuts with oil from the fruit of raffia trees to make protein-rich milk for children. The initiative has also transformed local fishing practices, improved social cohesion, facilitated freshwater access, restored the river shoreline, and responded to a food security crisis, all with local resources.
