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Dryland and agroforestry trees

Multi-purpose trees of hot dry country and tropical smallholdings — fertiliser, fodder, medicine, oil, and shade from a single species.

Restoration·Trees
  1. 01
    A spreading neem tree with pinnate leaves and clusters of small fruit
    Trees№ 3125 min

    Neem: The Village Pharmacy Tree

    A dryland tree whose seed oil is the most widely used botanical insecticide there is — plus the biopiracy case that reshaped patent law.

  2. 02
    Moringa oleifera tree with feathery leaves and seed pods
    Trees№ 3004 min

    Moringa Oleifera: The Miracle Tree

    Everything you need to know about growing and using Moringa oleifera, the fast tropical tree with edible leaves and seed-based water purification.

  3. 03
    A spreading shea tree standing over cultivated ground in a farmed parkland
    Trees№ 4275 min

    Shea and Argan: The Oil Trees Held by Women

    Two dryland trees whose nut oils sustain both households and export economies — and whose value depends on protecting slow-growing wild parklands.

  4. 04
    Brown tamarind pods and dark carob pods hanging on their trees
    Trees№ 4825 min

    Tamarind and Carob: The Sweet Pods of Dry Country

    Two leguminous pod trees that store sweetness in a drought-hard package — one the sour base of a world of cooking, the other a chocolate substitute and a measure of weight.

  5. 05
    Mesquite tree in flower with seed pods hanging beside an old honey locust trunk
    Trees№ 3164 min

    Nitrogen-Fixing Food Trees: Carob, Honey Locust, Mesquite

    Trees that feed the soil and feed you. Carob, honey locust, mesquite, and a handful of others deliver food, fodder, and free nitrogen.

  6. 06
    A row of gliricidia cut back for green manure with regrowth sprouting from the stumps
    Trees№ 2645 min

    Leucaena and Gliricidia: The Fertiliser Trees You Cut Back

    Fast nitrogen-fixing trees cut repeatedly for green manure and fodder — plus the mimosine that limits one and the versatility that spread the other.

  7. 07
    A flat-topped acacia standing alone on dry savanna grassland at low sun
    Trees№ 0016 min

    Acacia: The Thorn Trees That Hold the Drylands

    Nitrogen-fixing dryland keystones, the ant partnerships and chemical defences, and the reverse-phenology tree that fertilises crops beneath it.

  8. 08
    Cracked and curling dry mud stretching across a drought-stricken plain
    Restoration№ 1406 min

    Dryland Restoration: Zai Pits, Half-Moons, and Farmer-Managed Regeneration

    The low-cost techniques that reversed desertification across the Sahel — planting pits, contour bunds, and protecting the root systems already underground.

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