By Eben & Kristi van Tonder for ReEquipGlobal and Origins Global Meats
1 and 2 November 2025
**In memory of Johann, Dries, Santjie, our grandparents, and their parents — men and women who taught us, and who now guide us from a higher realm**
Introduction
For Eben and Kristi van Tonder, the future of agriculture lies in rediscovering harmony with the land. Their work through ReEquipGlobal and ReEquipGlobal grew from a shared respect for the wisdom of earlier generations. Kristi’s family farmed on the Wechsel Mountains in Austria, where forest and meadow exist in perfect balance and where duty and hard work were badges of honour. Eben’s grandparents worked the soil in South Africa’s Free State, where resilience defined every season.
This heritage shaped their belief that regeneration begins by working with nature. As they explored ways to improve meat quality in Nigeria, they drew inspiration from Kristi’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and from Eben’s grandfather and great-great-grandfather. Their focus has always been on simple farming practices that can make a significant difference to meat quality, and meat quality, in turn, is directly linked to the quality of life of the Nigerian farmer.
While studying examples of successful land restoration in Africa, Eben came across the story of Tony and Liz Rinaudo. Their work in Niger demonstrated that whole landscapes can be restored not through technology or large-scale planting, but by protecting and guiding what already lies beneath the soil. This discovery dovetailed with their own recent research into pasture development, particularly their work on a grass suited to cattle farmers in savanna regions, discussed in Evaluating the Grass Revolution: Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria and Its Potential for Nigeria’s Livestock Sector.
Tony and Liz Rinaudo – Living With the Land
In the early 1980s, Tony and Liz Rinaudo left Australia for Niger in West Africa. They arrived in a region stripped bare by deforestation and drought. The soil was eroded, and farmers faced collapse.
Tony noticed something interesting. Beneath the dust lay the living root systems of countless trees that had once covered the land. By protecting these stumps, pruning their shoots, and managing regrowth, he showed farmers how to bring the trees back.
In the Sahel, many native trees such as Faidherbia albida, Guiera senegalensis and Combretum glutinosum have evolved to survive extreme drought and fire. When the trunks are cut or burned, their deep roots remain alive underground, storing water and energy. Beneath the bark and just below the soil surface lie dormant buds—tiny growth points that can stay inactive for years until conditions become favourable.
When Tony asked farmers to stop removing or burning these stumps and instead to protect and prune them, the trees began to resprout. Freed from grazing animals and repeated cutting, the shoots grew rapidly, nourished by mature root systems that had never died. Within a few years, the bare fields began to turn green again.
This process, known scientifically as coppice regeneration, is nature’s quiet resilience at work. It shows that the destruction of a forest does not always mean death. It may simply be waiting for a reprieve. By understanding and cooperating with these natural systems, Tony and Liz helped farmers revive what was already there, proving that renewal often begins when we allow nature to do what it was designed to do.
Tony’s approach became known as Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). It restored more than 200 million trees across the Sahel and transformed millions of hectares of farmland. Farmers who once depended on food aid regained fertile soil, shade, and food security. The land was not replanted. It healed itself.
How It Works in Practice
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration is a carefully structured method based on observation, pruning, and community cooperation. Tony Rinaudo refined it over many years to suit both the environmental and social conditions of the Sahel.
It begins with recognising the life still present in the soil. Across Niger’s farmland, millions of living root systems lie dormant beneath the surface. Farmers identify these hidden stumps by looking for small clusters of shoots that appear after rainfall. A single root system can produce ten to fifty stems.
The farmer selects four or five of the strongest shoots and removes the rest. This selective pruning directs the plant’s stored energy into a few strong stems that grow tall and straight instead of forming a tangle of weak branches. The stems are trimmed at intervals to create a narrow canopy so that sunlight can still reach the food crops planted between them.
Protection follows. Young trees must be kept safe from livestock and fire. Farmers sometimes surround them with thorny branches or adjust grazing schedules so that animals enter the fields only after harvest. In many districts, communities introduced by-laws that recognise each farmer’s right to manage the trees on their own land. Once this ownership was established, the incentive to protect and care for the trees became permanent.
Each pruning cycle produces more than an ecological benefit. The cut branches supply fuelwood, fencing material, and fodder for animals. This creates an immediate return that strengthens the farmer’s commitment to the system. Within a few years, the trees themselves provide food, seed pods, and shade that further enhance productivity.
As the trees mature, the soil beneath them begins to change. Falling leaves form a layer of organic matter that holds moisture and supports the return of earthworms and soil microbes. The temperature on the ground surface drops, water retention improves, and wind erosion declines. Even without fertiliser, yields of millet, sorghum, and cowpea rise significantly compared with open, treeless fields.
The outcome is not only environmental. The branches and leaves harvested from pruned trees become a steady source of income. The restored vegetation improves the local climate, allowing shallow wells and streams to last longer through the dry season. What was once desert becomes a productive landscape that supports families, livestock, and wildlife.
Building a Social System Around the Trees
Tony understood that the success of FMNR would depend on people, not just plants. He began training farmers village by village, using demonstration plots where they could see and practise the technique for themselves. Rather than manuals or formal lectures, his approach relied on walking through fields, showing each step in person.
Every trained farmer was encouraged to teach five others, creating a rapid spread through peer learning. As fields began to turn green and harvests improved, neighbouring communities adopted the practice voluntarily. It moved across regions without large budgets or central management because farmers could see the proof with their own eyes.
Local committees emerged to manage and protect the regenerated areas. They organised grazing schedules, agreed on harvest rules, and maintained firebreaks. In several places, village elders revived older systems of communal land care, blending traditional authority with new ecological understanding. It is these grazing schedules which Eben and Kristi will exploit in the next section.
FMNR soon became more than a technical method. It united communities around a common purpose, strengthened trust, and restored pride in the land. By turning abandoned farmland into living forest, Tony and Liz helped rebuild not only the landscape of Niger but also the social fabric of its rural villages.
Linking to Our Work – Evaluating the Grass Revolution
In our article Evaluating the Grass Revolution: Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria and Its Potential for Nigeria’s Livestock Sector, we examined how new grass species could improve feed production and soil health in Africa.
A cattle farmer plants not to feed humans but to nourish his animals. Yet the principle remains the same: healthy soil sustains all life. Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria performs well where rainfall is moderate, but in arid regions it struggles. There, FMNR offers a complementary system.
Trees such as Faidherbia albida and Acacia senegal enrich the soil with nitrogen, protect the grass from scorching sun, and create microclimates that allow pastures to survive drought. The result is a self-sustaining balance: trees feed the grass, grass feeds the cattle, and the cattle return nutrients to the soil.
This is not a system of inputs. It is a cycle of renewal.
Evaluating the Grass Revolution
While Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria is excellent for the savanna regions of West Africa, the principle behind Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration extends beyond a single species. The system of allowing trees to strengthen and grow again can be effectively combined with a range of grasses that perform well under drier and more variable conditions. Together, they form a resilient partnership in which trees provide shade, organic matter, and nitrogen, while the grasses stabilise the soil, feed livestock, and hold moisture.
The presence of trees transforms the microclimate in ways that directly support grass growth. Their canopies lower soil temperatures, conserving moisture that would otherwise be lost through evaporation. Deep roots draw up nutrients and water from below, recycling them through leaf fall and decomposition. Nitrogen-fixing species such as Faidherbia albida and Acacia senegal enrich the soil naturally, while their roots open channels that allow rainwater to penetrate and remain available to grass roots. The trees also act as windbreaks, reducing erosion and protecting tender seedlings. Over time, this interaction between trees and grasses produces a self-sustaining environment where both elements strengthen one another.
The following grass species have proven especially effective for integration with FMNR systems in semi-arid and arid regions of Africa.
Cenchrus ciliaris (Buffel grass)
Outstanding drought tolerance and adaptability to sandy or stony soils. Performs well with annual rainfall as low as 200 mm. Deep-rooted, fast to establish, and highly compatible with FMNR systems.
Cenchrus setiger (Birdwood grass)
Survives on minimal rainfall, as little as 150 mm per year. Excellent for rehabilitating degraded or overgrazed rangeland where few other species persist.
Chloris gayana (Rhodes grass)
Suited to moderately dry zones receiving 500 to 1 000 mm of rainfall. Produces quality hay, tolerates light salinity, and recovers quickly after grazing.
Panicum maximum (Guinea grass)
Performs well in areas with higher rainfall, from 700 to 1 500 mm, especially where trees improve soil moisture. Offers high yields and palatable forage.
Brachiaria decumbens (Signal grass)
Hardy, persistent, and moderately drought-tolerant. Provides stable ground cover and good forage value where rainfall ranges from 600 to 1 200 mm.
The combination of FMNR trees with these grasses creates a productive cycle of renewal. Trees feed the grasses with shade, nitrogen, and organic matter. The grasses, in turn, protect the soil, reduce runoff, and extend the grazing season. Together, they offer livestock farmers a more reliable feed base, improved carcass quality, and a path toward genuine land restoration in the drier regions of West Africa.
Possible Ecological Downsides and How to Prevent Them
Introducing high-yield forage grasses such as Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria, Buffel grass, or Rhodes grass has clear economic value, but they are not native to West Africa. Their biology gives them strong competitive ability, and when planted in large monocultures, they can overpower local species, alter soil conditions, and change fire behaviour. A regenerative approach requires that they be used as tools, not as replacements for native vegetation.
The most common ecological downsides include:
- Loss of native plant diversity when introduced grasses form dense mats that shade or choke out smaller indigenous herbs and legumes.
- Increased fire risk from high biomass accumulation, especially with Buffel and Guinea grass.
- Changes in soil chemistry through allelopathic compounds released by some Brachiaria and Signal grass species, which can inhibit beneficial microbes and native plants.
- Alteration of hydrology in very dry zones, where deep-rooted exotic grasses may compete with trees for scarce water.
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Managing Ecological Risks and Creating Regenerative Balance
Introducing high-yield grasses such as Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria, Buffel grass or Rhodes grass can greatly improve productivity, but they are not native to West Africa. If handled carelessly, they can displace local plants, alter fire patterns and compete with native trees for water. The challenge is that once one foreign species is introduced, farmers are often tempted to bring in another to fix the side effects of the first. This chain of dependency must be avoided. The solution lies in using what already exists in the landscape—native or long-naturalised species that have coevolved with the soil, trees and rainfall of the region. By combining these local plants with simple management practices, the ecosystem can regain balance naturally.
Using native and long-established legumes as stabilisers brings equilibrium to the system without introducing yet another foreign plant. Instead of depending on imported legumes such as Stylosanthes hamata, farmers can use natural nitrogen-fixers like Zornia glochidiata (called dengeere or dengo by Fulani herders), Aeschynomene histrix (joint vetch or savanna joint bean) and Indigofera hirsuta (wild indigo or hairy indigo). These plants build soil fertility, coexist easily with local grasses and already belong to the landscape. They help to balance the rapid growth of exotic grasses and secure the soil against erosion.
Sowing a mixed grass and legume pasture begins with understanding the rhythm of the rainy season. The first reliable showers mark the right time to begin. Grasses such as Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria, Buffel grass or Andropogon gayanus (gamba grass) should be sown immediately after the first rains when the soil is moist and soft enough for shallow planting. Legumes like Zornia glochidiata and Aeschynomene histrix can be mixed with the grass seed before broadcasting. Mix roughly seventy percent grass seed with thirty percent legume seed by weight, ensuring an even spread across the field. This gives a balanced cover that prevents erosion, fixes nitrogen and provides both feed and fertility.
After broadcasting, lightly cover the seeds with one to two centimetres of soil using a branch drag or by letting cattle or goats walk over the area. The seeds should not be buried too deeply; they need some light to germinate. If you prefer row planting, keep the rows thirty to forty centimetres apart. Legumes can be added in every second or third row or sown between grass rows after emergence. Indigofera hirsuta grows more successfully when planted later. Wait two or three weeks after the grasses have sprouted and are about ten to fifteen centimetres tall before sowing the Indigofera seed. It benefits from a little shade during early growth and uses the remaining soil moisture more efficiently.
Avoid grazing the field during the first growing season until both grasses and legumes are well rooted and cover the soil completely, usually after about ninety days. Once established, use rotational grazing. Move animals through small paddocks, grazing each area for only a few days before allowing it to rest for four to six weeks. This helps the plants recover, keeps the soil covered and maintains a steady supply of natural feed year after year.
In drier savanna zones, commercial species such as Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria or Buffel grass can be blended with local grasses like Andropogon gayanus (gamba grass) and Cenchrus biflorus (cram-cram). The native grasses provide seed banks that secure the land’s resilience during drought or heavy grazing. Mixed pastures protect biodiversity and ensure that no single species dominates the system.
Maintaining shaded microclimates through trees is another key to balance. Trees like Faidherbia albida (gawo, winter thorn) and Acacia senegal (gum arabic tree) moderate soil temperature, hold moisture and add organic matter. Their roots improve water infiltration and create an environment where exotic grasses grow more gently and local species thrive in the cooler soil beneath them.
Fertiliser and irrigation should be kept to a minimum. In dryland systems, fertility should come from natural sources such as manure, leaf litter and nitrogen-fixing legumes. Heavy artificial inputs promote the excessive growth of fast species and weaken ecological balance.
Before the dry season, graze or cut excess grass to remove fuel and prevent runaway fires. In FMNR systems, this can be done by bringing animals into mature paddocks just before the onset of the dry period. Each season, farmers should walk their land, noting changes in plant balance, soil texture and signs of erosion. If exotic species start to dominate, grazing intensity can be adjusted or additional native seeds introduced.
When managed in this way, imported species become allies rather than invaders. The trees restore shade and nitrogen, the native legumes stabilise soil and feed microbes, and the improved grasses supply feed without exhausting the land. Together they form a self-regulating ecosystem that unites productivity with long-term regeneration, rebuilding West Africa’s rangelands from the roots upward.
A Shared Heritage of Regeneration
The values guiding ReEquipGlobal and Origins Global Meats are rooted in memory. Both Eben and Kristi carry forward the lessons of their families: that farming is not merely production but stewardship.
Tony and Liz’s rediscovery in Niger is a modern expression of an old truth their own ancestors lived by, namely that the earth heals when it is trusted to do what it was created to do. Their story affirms the direction of our own work: to build systems that regenerate instead of exploit, to restore dignity to the farmer, and to let the land breathe again.
Conclusion
Through ReEquipGlobal and Origins Global Meats, we express this shared philosophy in practice. Our work unites science, engineering, and traditional understanding to design systems that regenerate soil, livestock, and livelihoods.
Regeneration, for us, is not invention but remembrance. It is the continuation of what our parents and grandparents began and the realisation that the solutions we seek are already within the land itself.
It is an honour to carry their legacy forward! To live with the land, not against it.
References
National Geographic (2018). How farmers in Earth’s least developed country grew 200 million trees. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/how-farmers-in-earths-least-developed-country-grew-200-million-trees
ISCAST Interview (2023). Tony Rinaudo: The Missionary Forest Maker. Retrieved from https://iscast.org/interview/tony-rinaudo-the-missionary-forest-maker/
World Vision Australia (2022). Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). Retrieved from https://www.worldvision.com.au/global-issues/work-we-do/fmnr/
van Tonder, E., & van Tonder, K. (2025). Evaluating the Grass Revolution: Sabiá Hybrid Brachiaria and Its Potential for Nigeria’s Livestock Sector. Earthworm Express.
Global EverGreening Alliance (2024). FMNR Hub Africa. Retrieved from https://www.evergreening.org/