Congo Education Partners
Current donation: $25,000
Donations to date: $50,000
Congo Education Partners ("CEP") supports higher education in the Tshuapa Province, DRC, in the Congo Basin Rainforest. Our donation will help CEP create a new generation of rainforest stewards by providing them with the skills to protect the forest, its wildlife, and the livelihoods of the local communities.
Why They're Climate Smart
In the Congo rainforest, food insecurity is commonplace, people live on an average annual income of $150, and many farmers practice traditional climate-harming, slash-and-burn, chemical-based farming. CEP intends to help end these problems by training farmers — 73 percent of whom are women who produce 80 percent of food crops (and are traditionally excluded from educational programs) — in climate-smart techniques such as agroforestry, building soil health with cover crops, the use of organic fertilizers, mulching, reducing tillage, and crop rotation.
Why They Get Our Continued Support
In 2024, our grant was used to educate 127 students, start 200 farming cooperatives, and install solar power systems to light classrooms (to start weaning the school off the diesel generator). Going forward, our donation will help expand these programs (as they are the only accredited educational institution in the Congo rainforest focusing on "Water and Forests" or "Sustainable Agriculture").