From September 26th–28th, Acorn attended the West Africa Carbon Market Hub in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Together with the West African Alliance, Acorn signed an MoU to enhance the livelihoods of farmers and smallholder producers by driving forward sustainable agriculture and carbon sequestration.
The power of carbon markets for West African communities
The West Africa Carbon Market Hub event brought together different stakeholders from development sectors to explore the transformative power carbon markets can have for West African communities – among which, of course, smallholder farmers. In line with our Acorn mission, Hanna Choa Yu (Acorn’s government affairs and carbon legislation manager) and Emma van de Ven (strategy and research lead) traveled to Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire, to participate in this multi-day event.
Emma (Strategy Lead) and Hanna (Government Affairs and Carbon Legislation Manager) at MoU signing with WAA. Photo by West African Alliance.
A promising collaboration
On the second day of the conference, Acorn took part in a signing ceremony with the West African Alliance (WAA). Attended by participants of the West African Carbon Hub, Ambassador Kelderhuis and Ms. Rachel Boti of the Côte d’Ivoire government, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (or MoU) with the WAA, with Ms. Boti signing the document as a witness.
Our shared mission to enable sustainable agriculture via agroforestry, carbon sequestration, and climate finance provided the basis for this MoU, the goal of which is to empower smallholder farmers in the region, improve their livelihoods, and combat climate change at the same time. The MoU is a landmark moment for Acorn, as we plan to invest more in West Africa.
The value of partnerships
Our activities are made possible only through our collaboration with our partners: NGOs, remote sensing organizations, farmer cooperations, and so on. But these partnerships are more than a way for us to achieve our goals: they make us more visible to, for example, legislators and policymakers, who wield great influence when it comes to the future of carbon finance and the role it can play in the lives of smallholder farmers.
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.
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