The Baobab Foundation

Bao-Med supports the Baobab Foundation, a South African non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of baobab trees and the communities that live among them. Dr. Sarah founded the organization several years ago to give something back to the villages that provide her with baobab fruit.

Bao-Med donates a portion of its proceeds to the foundation, thereby contributing to the social and economic development of these rural villages. These donations have been used to build several new preschools and daycare centers, each accommodating over 30 children and providing them with meals and an education they otherwise would never have received. Other schools and daycare centers in the region have also received support, ensuring better opportunities for the local youth.

Sustainably harvested

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

Bao-Med believes in nature conservation through education. We work closely with the villagers who collect baobab fruit and ensure we educate them about the sustainability of baobab trees and their products for the local and international markets. In this way, Bao-Med ensures a sustainable harvest and the tree can continue to produce fruit for hundreds of years.

Growing baobab trees

It has become apparent that very few, if any, baobab trees germinate and grow 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 tall. The Baobab Foundation devised a project called the Baobab Guardians project.

Through this project, local villagers can be rewarded for germinating, planting, and growing baobab trees in their gardens. The guardians are rewarded for every centimeter the tree grows until it reaches a height of 3 meters. This has generated great interest in the communities, where nearly 50 trees have grown to a height of more than 3 meters within a few years. This is a major effort by the local population for the conservation of baobab trees. The Baobab Foundation organizes an award ceremony when a number of guardians have reached their goal of growing a 3-meter-tall baobab. The local population takes this occasion very seriously.

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