By George Munene
A new carbon credit project will assist up to 5,000 small-scale farmers in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia to unlock the international carbon market in the developing world.
It will give access to loans that smallholder farmers will use to transition to agroforestry at scale and monetize carbon stored in the trees they plant. These loans will be repaid by the farmers using future income generated by revenue from the sale of carbon credits.
Financed by FSD Africa and Rabobank ACORN/Rabo Foundation the program is geared to enhance sustainable farming for African small-scale farmers. Smallholder farmers will not only reap the benefits of agroforestry, but also the profits of the voluntary carbon market.
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80- 90% of revenues from the carbon removal units sold, will flow back to the smallholders and their communities.
Acorn – Agroforestry CRUs for the Organic Restoration of Nature – unlocks the international carbon market for smallholder farmers in the developing world. The company employs data to make CO2 sequestration monitoring and monetization cost-effective and scalable, while also making it more transparent and data-driven.
This enables it to operate cost-effectively and offers the possibility to scale up and reach a significant number of smallholder farmers.
“The program has a great potential for improving farmers’ income through the sale of carbon credits and other income from the agroforestry projects,” said FSD Africa CEO, Mark Napier.
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Phase two of the partnership aims at setting up a potential capital market instrument based on the results of the pilot project.
Acorn’s program aims at reaching one million farmers globally by 2025.
For more information:
FSD Africa
Nelson Karanja
Director, Communications & Engagement
Acorn – Rabobank
Margreet Muizebelt
Finance Lead Acorn
margreet.muizebelt@rabobank.com