Acorn projects receive $5 million from Bezos Earth Fund and USAID

Bezos Earth Fund supports Acorn’s agroforestry projects in Kenya

At Africa Climate Summit 2023 in Nairobi Kenya, Bezos Earth Fund announced their $22.8 million funding for the restoration of African landscapes. Of that funding, $2.5 million has been granted to Rabo Foundation for an Acorn agroforestry project, implemented by Acorn's local partner: Cereal Growers Association (CGA) in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.

Part of this funding will support Cereal Growers Association’s aim to train a total of 30,000 farmers via their lead farmers. Collectively, these farmers manage an estimated 24,000 hectares of land suitable for agroforestry. Restoration of this area could potentially sequester 1.6 MtCO2e over a 20-year period.

USAID invests in Acorn’s Sustainable Agroforestry Finance entity

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also announced at Africa Climate Summit that they have committed to investing $35 million to support climate action in Africa. Through its Enterprises for Development, Growth, and Empowerment Fund, USAID will invest $2.5 million into a new investment fund focusing on setting up funding new agroforestry projects with Acorn, as a first loss tranche.

These grants are a great first step towards additional funding sources for agroforestry projects by smallholders and allow Acorn to further support farmers in investing in more sustainable practices. Ineke Keers, Acorn’s Head of Business Development adds, “We are very grateful for these grants and the vote of confidence from USAID and Bezos Earth Fund. Hopefully they are the first of many more to come.”

• Watch USAID's Beatrice Wamalwa announcement about the investment on X/Twitter

About Acorn

We help support smallholder farmers in developing countries transition to agroforestry. Together with local partners, we facilitate the funding and training needed by farmers to start their agroforestry transition. Transforming the sequestered CO2 through agroforestry into Carbon Removal Units (CRUs), we offer carbon credits to responsible corporates to help them reach their climate goals. The growth of the trees is measured with satellite imagery, AI, and LiDAR, and certified by ICROA-accredited Plan Vivo.

With 80% of the sales revenue going directly to the farmers, it creates an additional income stream and helps them adopt a more climate-resilient way of farming that improves food security, biodiversity, and financial independence.