Partnership with Kuffle Creek Apple Nursery

As a measure of the Southern Heritage Apple Orchard's (SHAO) importance and outreach, Site Horticulturist Jason Bowen, together with the Site Manager of Horne

woman planting an apple tree
A farmer in Uganda plants an apple
variety from Southern Heritage Apple
Orchard.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Hauser.

Creek Farm and Kevin Hauser of Kuffle Creek Apple Nursery, have conducted international outreach and enrichment. Jason and Mr. Hauser have determined which heirloom apple varieties would grow best in the climates of various African countries. As a result of this work, a number of apple trees from Horne Creek Farm have been grafted and planted by the non-profit organization “Apples for Africa” in 60 orchards throughout the African continent. It enables people in the war-torn countries of Rwanda, Zambia, Congo, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan to raise a crop that does not need to be replanted each year and which, more significantly, earns up to eight times more at market than typical crops of the area.  Apple trees from Horne Creek have also been planted in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda as part of a project of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. 

African Farmers Cultivate Apple Trees from Historic NC Orchard, by Laura Candler, WUNC, Aug 31, 2013.