Kia Motors Europe is to sponsor a long-term charitable programme for the planting of shrubs in southern Mali, West Africa.  Kia Motors Europe is to sponsor a long-term charitable programme for the planting of shrubs in southern Mali, West Africa.  The project, called; Kia-Planting for a Better Life., will guarantee the planting of up to six million jatropha shrubs over the next three years, helping to secure a brighter future for communities in the area by boosting agricultural output and generating income for farmers and their families.

Supported by Kia's 14 wholly-owned European subsidiaries, the project will see Kia making a donation equivalent to six jatropha seedlings for each vehicle sold in the participating countries, up to a maximum value of €500,000 each year.

The jatropha shrub is a hardy, drought- and pest-resilient evergreen perennial which has numerous benefits.  It is toxic to wild animals so makes an ideal hedge plant or 'living fence' with which farmers can ring other crops.  It also helps prevent soil erosion and, from year five onwards, produces an average yield of 3.5 kg of 'climate nuts' sufficient to create 0.5 litres of bio-diesel fuel, boosting the farmer's income.

Here in ireland Kia Motors is a supporter of both Special Olympics and the Olympic Council of Ireland .