Twenty-five cents from the sale of every Epoch Baobab Body Butter is donated to the Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation for the Malawi Seeds of Hope project. These funds will be used to purchase and plant a variety of important and useful trees for the people of Malawi, including baobab trees and fruit trees. Malawi has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world and there is an urgent need to restore and protect this precious natural resource.
In 2009, Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. announced that more than 100,000 trees are being donated to villages in Malawi thanks to the company's distributors and customers who have purchased Epoch Baobab Body Butter. The planting of trees as a renewable resource will benefit the people of Malawi in many ways. In the short-term, new trees provide food and raw materials. Long-term benefits include storage, shade, and enriched soil. For example, baobab leaves are consumed as a vegetable and can be harvested just one year after planting a seedling. Within five years, the trees begin to bear fruit, which can also be eaten or sold. The bark of the tree can be harvested for use as a strong, durable fiber to make twine, rope, or other building materials. The bark grows back and can be re-harvested every two to five years.
