James Kasonde's pine woodlot: A visual story
Meet James Kasonde. He is 70 years old, a community leader, a father of six, and a grandfather of fourteen. He lives in Kebamba, on the edge of the Katanino Forest Reserve in Zambia, where he serves as Chairperson of the Village Resource Management Committee.
In 2021, WeForest introduced a pine woodlot scheme to the village. The idea was simple: farmers could plant pine trees on their land, inter-cropping them with food crops, and eventually harvest the timber as a long-term investment.
Mr. Kasonde volunteered immediately.
He had one hectare of land where maize no longer grew well because the soil was tired. Years of farming had depleted its fertility. Instead of forcing another failing crop, he decided to try something different.
The Taungya System
In 2022, Mr. Kasonde planted his pine seedlings using a method called the Taungya system.
For that, young pine trees are planted in rows, and in between, farmers plant sweet potatoes or legumes. For the first two to three years, the legumes fix nitrogen in the soil, restoring fertility naturally. No chemical fertilizer needed.
Once the soil recovers, maize can be intercropped with the pine trees. The farmer continues to harvest food from the land while the trees grow. Eventually, when the pine canopy closes and shades the ground, the intercropping stops. By then, the trees can be cut, for the wood to be sold.
It is a system that works with the land, not against it. And it gives farmers a crop to harvest while they wait for their timber investment to grow.
See how it has worked for Mr. Kasonde and his family and the results they had in just four years:
2023: Small trees
In the photo, we see Mr. Kasonde, one year after planting his pine in 2022. In the background, the maize is yellow and stunted due to soil infertility. In 2023, the pine trees were young: knee-high, fragile, easy to miss among the crops. Mr. Kasonde tended them carefully, weeding around each seedling, making sure they had space to grow.
2024: Pines already showing up
By 2024, they had doubled in height. The photo shows pine seedlings intercropped with beans to improve soil fertility as well as a weed management technique.
2024: They keep growing
Mr. Kasonde’s grandson in the pine woodlot in 2024.
2025: Full trees
By 2025, the pine trees stood taller than a person. In the photo we see Mr. Kasonde in his pine woodlot in 2025, with a healthy maize crop after 2 years of growing beans as an intercrop.
2026: Look how big they got
In 2026, the land that once struggled to grow maize is now home to a thriving woodlot. The soil beneath the trees is healthier. The legumes and maize have fed his family. And the timber will one day provide income and building materials for his children and grandchildren.
