Gliricidia Sepium
From Root to Stem
One tree. Nitrogen in the soil. Food for livestock. Timber on your land. Carbon in the ledger.
A fertiliser factory running beneath every farm
No inputs. No cost. Just biology doing the work.
Gliricidia is a legume. Its roots colonise with Rhizobium bacteria, forming nodules that pull nitrogen straight from the atmosphere and convert it into plant-available form. That nitrogen becomes available to neighbouring crops when leaves decompose, roots die back, and farmers incorporate cut branches into the soil.
The deep taproot binds soil particles together. On sloped land in Chongwe, this is the difference between a productive field and a gully. Measurable improvement in soil structure within two to three seasons — no inputs, no cost.
Cut once. Feed the soil. Feed the herd. Deter the pests.
Three benefits from a single branch cut.
At 3.5% nitrogen content, Gliricidia leaves break down rapidly when incorporated before planting. Unlike compost — which takes months — green manure from Gliricidia can be cut and applied in the same week. Farmers in our programme cut branches two to three times per year.
The same leaves also feed cattle, goats, and sheep through the dry season. Gliricidia flowers before almost anything else, giving beekeepers a critical nectar source when little else is available.
Timber on your land. Carbon in the ledger.
The same tree that feeds your soil builds your fence and earns carbon credit.
Gliricidia reaches 3 to 4 metres in year one from a stem cutting. Dense enough for fence posts, tool handles, and construction poles. Farmers who establish Gliricidia hedgerows create a living fence that produces green manure, fodder, and timber on a regular cutting cycle.
As firewood, it burns hot with little smoke — meaning less time collecting from degraded bush. The wood grows back on the farmer’s own land.
This is not a new discovery.
It is an underused solution.
Gliricidia has been used in tropical agroforestry for decades. We are scaling and formalising its use among farmers who already understand intercropping but lacked planting material, support, and a market mechanism.
Our programme includes smallholder farmers, women collectors, and community youth. At Kampekete Village, we work in partnership with the Chongwe Network for People Living with Disabilities.
Carbon credits give farmers a direct financial return for planting and maintaining Gliricidia. For the first time, the tree is not just a resource to be used — it is income to be earned.