Rymax Lubricants plants 898 trees in Rwanda in collaboration with One Tree Planted

For the first donation, Rymax has chosen to support the Kula project in Rwanda. This project is planning to plant 120.000 coffee and shade trees in three communities of smallholder coffee farmers. These trees will lead to an increase in harvest and income while simultaneously empowering over 200 coffee farmers to invest in their futures and the futures of their families. Of these 120.000 trees, 90.000 will be coffee trees and 30.000 will be shade trees.

Whereas the coffee trees provide both environmental and economic benefits, the shade trees:

• Protect coffee trees from drought stress and over exposure to sun leading to increased quality in coffee harvest and therefore increased income for the farmers.
• Maintain the soil structure to combat erosion and increase carbon sequestration in the farms.
• Replenish the soil with nutrients that coffee trees take away.

The farmers will be enrolled in a 15-month Fellowship Program in which they are trained extensively by expert agronomists on how to best care for their coffee and shade trees through a variety of topics including Tree Canopy Management, Coffee Tree and Variety Characteristics, Soil Productivity, Harvesting, Erosion Control, Weeding and Waste Management, Composting and Amendment, and Shade Trees.

By providing these coffee and shade trees, Kula equips coffee farmers with the materials and training needed to improve and expand their coffee farms and eventual harvest, and therefore increase their income. The coffee trees can provide a sustainable income for up to 30 years. Through providing business training as well as education in life and leadership skills, the goal of the project is to empower the farmers to create and manage profitable coffee businesses, provide for themselves and their families, and send their children to school.

 Rymax is contributing to this valuable project by donating 898 trees from the sales of the Rymax Apollo ECO line. For every box sold, one tree is planted. Every quarter a new donation to a different project will be made based on the sales of these fuel-saving lubricants.