Efforts to restore degraded landscapes in the country have received a shot in the arm following an announcement of $7.5 million (Sh1 billion) to be used for financing projects.
TerraFund for AFR100 provided the money, which will benefit 36 organisations and enterprises in the country.
The benefiting institutions will receive the amount in grants, loans, and equity finance.
The organisations are part of a second cohort of investments named TerraFund for AFR100 Landscapes.
They are restoring land in three of the continent’s vital landscapes-the Greater Rift Valley of Kenya; the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Ghana Cocoa Belt.
These landscapes were chosen because they provide food and water for millions of people and protect crucial biodiversity yet they are suffering from decades of degradation.
Through 2030, this new investment in Kenya is projected to grow 4.5 million trees, restore 13,000 hectares (32,123 acres), create 21,000 temporary and full-time jobs, and benefit 245,000 people.
Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute managing director Wanjira Maathai said climate action is local.
“I am delighted TerraFund for AFR100 and partners are mobilising finances and capacity for restoration champions. We need both scale and speed for the restoration movement in Africa to improve the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, their families and communities," she said.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organisation with offices in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the US. It also has regional offices in Africa and Europe.
TerraFund is a partnership between the World Resources Institute, One Tree Planted, Realise Impact and Barka Fund and was launched with an anchor investment from the Bezos Earth Fund.
TerraFund for AFR100 deploys grants, loans and equity investments to support non-profit community organisations and for-profit businesses in Africa that restore land by growing trees.
It incubates hundreds of the continent’s locally led restoration champions by mobilising and deploying finance and capacity for a pipeline of investable enterprises and non-profits.
After implementation starts, it monitors and communicates the impacts of the investments to inspire action.
The landscapes were chosen because they provide food and water for millions of people and protect crucial biodiversity, yet they are suffering from decades of degradation.
TerraFund will disburse $17.8 million (Sh2.8 billion) to a total of 92 organisations, including those in Kenya.
In Rwanda, 20 champions will receive $3.6 million, in Burundi, 11 organisations will get $2.1 million; in the DRC, 10 projects will be awarded $1.9 million and in Ghana, $2.7 million will go towards 15 projects.
These “restoration champions” were selected after TerraFund screened 601 applications gathered through an open call for proposals.
President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund Andrew Steer said local groups are at the heart of Africa’s restoration movement but historically have been viewed as too small or risky for investment.
“The TerraFund champions are shattering this myth. Not only are these groups doing remarkable work on the ground, but they’re also utilising new monitoring technologies, allowing us to track progress like never before.”
TerraFund was established in September 2021 when it announced applications for its first cohort, the Top 100, which financed 100 community organisations and businesses across 27 countries in Africa.
Since May 2022, the Top 100 cohort has started to grow 12.5 million trees, provided paid work to 36,000 people and improved the livelihoods of 202,000 people.
In Kenya, a leading entrepreneur is seeing the benefits of this investment.
Caroline Kariuki, co-founder and CEO of GreenPot Enterprises, a bamboo-growing and manufacturing company in Kenya, used her first TerraFund loan to enable hundreds of farmers to grow bamboo.
With an additional equity investment, the company will finish building its factory in Narok, Kenya, transforming raw bamboo into marketable products.
“This funding is a testimony that our work is appreciated. It will be an inspiration for the farmers because, for the first time, we will be able to buy the bamboo from them, and they can then see that their work over the last eight years has not been in vain," Kariuki said.
To date, TerraFund for AFR100 has received 3,800 applications and has deployed $33 million in grants, loans and equity investment to 192 landscape restoration projects in 27 African countries.
The impact of this investment is tracked through the TerraMatch platform, which uses cutting-edge monitoring, reporting and verification techniques from land and carbon lab that combine field-collected data with insights from satellite imagery.
By directly measuring the impact of their work, TerraFund is giving credit to these champions on the ground.
TerraFund for AFR100 is a fund for locally-led landscape restoration projects in Africa.