Born from a Cambridge University research project
Founded in 2012, The Inga Foundation grew out of a twenty-year scientific research project at Cambridge University into slash-and-burn agriculture. Mike Hands’ discovery was a revolutionary farming method that is changing lives in the tropics, and protecting rainforest.
Supporting 500+ farmers
The Inga Foundation now works with over 500 families farming in Honduras, as well as elsewhere in the world, helping them shift from slash-and-burn to the tried-and-tested alternative system – Inga Alley Cropping.
Keeping carbon in the ground
According to our carbon model estimates, our Land for Life program avoided or sequestered 874,000 tons of CO2, up to the end of 2023 (and more this year!)
Over 150 years of experience
The Inga Foundation UK Board is made up of experts in tropical ecology who, between them, have over 150 years of experience. Read about them here.
The forest’s best custodians are it’s residents
We don’t simply plant trees from afar. The farmers we teach and support are invested in their trees because it’s their livelihood – so they’re the best people to protect them from logging, and slash and burn.
2400
Hectares planted
87400
tons of CO2 sequestered
10000
Families supported
Up In Smoke: One Man’s Burning Issue
One of the best ways to understand the heart and history of the Inga Foundation is through Up In Smoke, a feature-length documentary released in 2011 by Adam Wakeling. Spanning a three-year segment of the Inga Foundation’s work, it follows Mike Hands, our Founder, as he works to convince local farmers to make the leap from slash-and-burn to Inga Alley Cropping, and his struggle to bring this issue to the forefront of ecological thinking.