The Baobab Foundation

Bao-Med supports the Baobab Foundation. This is a non-profit organisation in South Africa that promotes and supports the conservation of baobab trees and is involved in improving the lives of communities who live among these trees. Through direct cooperation we make an economic contribution to the local population.

The Baobab Foundation was established by Dr. Sarah a few years ago in order to give back to the villages that supply her with Baobab fruit. Bao-Med has partnered up with the Baobab Foundation to support the rural villages and contribute to social development and upliftment. Bao-Med donates a part of the products sales to the foundation.

Bao-Med’s donations have contributed to building a few brand-new preschools and crèches in the villages that host more than 30 kids each and supply them with meals and much-needed education they would never have received before. Many other contributions have been made to various other schools and Creches in the area to ensure upliftment and education of the local youth.

The baobab fruit comes directly from the communities that live in the poorest and most underdeveloped parts of Venda, a native homeland on the northern border of South Africa. Harvesting baobab fruit for our Bao-Med products is a sustainable process. The harvesters only collect the fruit that has fallen from the tree onto the ground, leaving the tree intact.

Bao-Med believes in conservation through education. We work closely with the harvesters of baobab fruit and make sure that we educate them about the sustainability of baoabab trees and their products to the local and international markets. We have raised a great amount of awareness towards conserving baobab trees and making sure they are well looked after.

It has been noticed that there are very little to no baobab trees germinating and growing naturally in the bush, due to the high number of goats in the villages. The small trees are eaten as soon as they are a few centimeters high. The Baobab Foundation came up with a project called the baobab guardians project.

The project allows the local villagers to germinate, plant, and grow baobab trees in their gardens for a reward. The guardians are rewarded for each centimeter the tree grows up until the tree reaches a height of 3 meters. This has sparked great interest among the communities where nearly 50 trees have grown to heights over 3 meters in only a few years. This is a great conservation effort by the locals, showing that they are invested in our efforts. The Baobab Foundation hosts an awards ceremony when there are a number of guardians who have reached their goal of growing a 3-meter baobab. The locals take the occasion very seriously.

In this way Bao-Med and the Baobab Foundation ensure a sustainable harvest, allowing baobab trees to produce fruit for hundreds of years.