Amid the trouble in Mali, villagers in the south are benefitting from a booming trade in gums that are harvesting from trees that grow wild across the African Sahel.

The gum Arabic and gum Karaya trees are being tapped for their high-value resins which are exported to Europe for a range of uses, from pharmaceuticals to cosmetics and baked goods.

There are similar agroforestry enterprises in the Sahel, such as baobab, shea nut and cashew trees which offer similar potential.

An article in Forbes, outlines how the agricultural business, Produits du Sud, has already trained around 2,000 unemployed youth to conserve and tap gum from trees.

In a region plagued by extreme poverty, drought and food insecurity, the youth may have been prime recruits for terrorist groups. Instead, through the gum industry, Malians can supplement their subsistence millet farming and pay for school fees, medical needs, and food in the lean months between harvests.

Previously, the trees were only tapped by locals for traditional medicines to treat the common cold, sore eyes, or a stomach ache. There is now a reverse urban-rural migration as young people return from the city to work in the burgeoning gum industry.

There are environmental benefits too. By conserving the trees, the soils are enriched, carbon is stored and the region’s ability to cope with drought improved.

“Produits du Sud offers a microcosm for how such small and growing agricultural businesses can foster long-term peace and prosperity in one of the most troubled regions of the world,” says the article.

Read the full story: Mali Entrepreneurs Offer Path to Peace