Welcome to Proyecto Mezquite

The project long-term ambition is to improve the welfare of less advantaged community groups in the drylands of developing countries, including Mexico, Kenya and Tanzania using Mezquite (Prosopis).

We aim to promote ethical and sustainable environmental, social, cultural and economic development to benefit marginalized communities in Mexico, Kenya and Tanzania. We aim to support communities to help themselves, thus all research proposals and solutions proposed by Proyecto Mezquite have been co-created with input from dryland communities.

We aim to recover and transfer mezquite local and traditional knowledge from Mexico to other communities and nations, if the owners of this knowledge wish to do so.

In Mexico, we aim to encourage communities to use mezquite in a sustainable and holistic way and encourage reforestation. Mezquite, a tree native to the arid and semi-arid zones of Mexico is extremely resistant to drought and is one of the few species that grows where other plants are unable to survive.

Management of Mezquite in Africa is challenging and complex, and we believe it requires a multi-sectorial, multi-disciplinary and multi-national approach. The project seeks to support efforts towards management of Mezquite by utilization; and join efforts in these areas where control by eradication is not possible. Is at these areas that we can help communities to utilize Prosopis in a productive and commercial way through sharing of traditional and indigenous knowledge from the project member states (Tanzania, Kenya, UK and Mexico) and to enhance research capabilities and innovation in the use and management of Prosopis.