Timberland Launches New Documentary: "KOMBIT: The Cooperative" Chronicling Journey Toward Greener Future for Haiti
Visit KombitFilm.com to learn more and watch the film
Earlier this month, Timberland released “KOMBIT: The Cooperative,” a documentary film chronicling an unlikely partnership helping to reforest Haiti, resulting from the company's goal to plant five million trees in the country in five years. The film, which premiered at SxSW Eco in Austin, documents the development of a large-scale, self-sustaining agroforestry program owned and operated by smallholder farmers, creating lasting value well beyond the trees themselves.
With less than two percent tree cover, Haiti is threatened by severe deforestation and desertification caused by natural disasters, over-use of land by farmers and livestock and harvesting of trees to sell as charcoal. In 2010, Timberland aimed to reverse Haiti's dangerous decline in tree populations via a Clinton Global Initiative commitment, resulting in the development of a large-scale, self-sustaining agroforestry program owned and operated by smallholder farmers. The film, produced by Found Object, documents the emergence of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), a Haitian nonprofit farmer cooperative dedicated to feeding and reforesting the country.
To date, this project has helped 3,200 farmers increase productivity on their farmlands an average of 50 percent, resulting in increased household income of 50 percent, on average. The program has also resulted in increased access to education and healthcare, including an estimated 3,400 additional children of SFA members placed in school. Most recently, the development of an export model for “superfood” moringa is underway with the U.S. brand Kuli Kuli, which will be sold in Whole Foods starting in January of 2016.
To learn more visit KombitFilm.com, where you can view “KOMBIT: The Cooperative” for $2.99 (48 hour rental) or $9.99 (purchase and download). All net proceeds from the 45-minute film will benefit SFA via Impact Farming, which supports the SFA in Haiti and helps to provide education and agricultural training to empower farmers in developing countries.
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