Enable agroforestry for smallholder farmers
Encourage sustainable farming
Equip communities with improved financial means
We're always on the lookout for local partners to set up new projects, empowering smallholder farmers everywhere. Are our values a match for yours? Then we'd love to connect.
We enable smallholder farmers to transition to agroforestry in a way that takes the guesswork out of it, providing expert training and employing technological monitoring solutions, ensuring our mission is scalable, reliable, and verifiable.
80% of the revenue generated by the sale of carbon credits supports smallholder farmer livelihoods and development, and improves food security, biodiversity and soil quality, all while equipping communities with improved financial means.
We work towards climate balance for all of us, by encouraging sustainable farming and making agroforestry a viable option for smallholder farmers in developing countries, all while enabling corporates to offset their carbon emissions.
To realize our mission of supporting millions of smallholder farmers, we are looking for partners to join forces. Collaborating with Acorn as a project coordinator is as straightforward as we can make it. We're here to help you and the farmers in the community you serve, after all. Here's how it works:
Get in touch with one of our account managers; they'll explain next steps and expectations
Gather information and fill out the required paperwork in our online portal; we’re committed to customer due diligence and will provide any support you need
Serve as lynchpin between Acorn and local smallholder farmers, both to direct revenue streams and to facilitate communication
Pay out farmers (at least 80% of the proceeds of CRU sales) and watch as your local community flourishes, from farm to family to neighborhood
Submit annual progress reports and assist us in keeping our data and models up to date through reporting and monitoring
For a more thorough explanation of our methodology, refer to the six steps detailed in the photographs below, or download our brochure in English, Spanish or French.
An example of our methodology in practice can be found in Colombia. The first farmers joined with an agroforestry combination of Robusta coffee intercropped with shade, banana, avocado, and mango trees. Farmers plant tree species that are native or naturalized, and draw on local and expert knowledge for agroforestry designs.
Our local project coordinator kicks things off: collecting details like field coordinates, land ownership and farmer consent forms from the participating smallholders and uploading them to the Acorn portal.
Ground truth data is collected to have accurate models for remote measurement at scale. With the help of data collectors, we then define sample plots, measure trees per subplot, and measure average biomass. We use LiDAR and satellite data to complement this information.
We train our models on basis of the sample lot based on ground truth and LiDAR. We check if deforestation has taken place in the previous five years and measure the delta of biomass growth over the last year.
Based on our certified methodology and framework, we correct the biomass delta of every plot for adjustment factors like leakage and calculate the tonnes of CO2 that the plot has sequestered, hence the number of CRUs can be created.
To close the loop, after the CRUs have been sold, 80% flows back to the farmer.
Most of the carbon credit sales revenue flows back to you and the farmers you represent. We take a fixed 10% to cover our costs. As project coordinator, you're entitled to up to 10% as well. The remaining 80% is paid out to farmers, at least once a year. How much a CRU sells for depends on supply and demand, but we'll always charge a minimum of €20, to minimize financial risk for the farmers.
In order to ensure we're a good fit for one another, we have set up a certification process in conjunction with Plan Vivo. This proprietary protocol keeps the certification process accessible, transparent and reduces the costs and lead times of certification significantly.
Find out more
We work with organizations which have a trustworthy relationship with smallholder farmers. Organizations that believe in the benefits of agroforestry, are committed to venture into an innovative project in the voluntary carbon market, and have the capacity to partner with the Acorn program.
Therefore, we ask our partners to meet several conditions. For a more elaborate checklist, please consult the Acorn Framework.
Please ensure the following applies:
Presence of legal right to sell Carbon Removal Units (no restricting governmental policy)
The project includes new agroforestry and/or existing agroforestry with a maximum of 5 years since trees were planted
2.000+ ha potential project scale
No deforestation took place in the project area in the last 5 years
No carbon credits are being sold currently from the project, or CO2 (to be) sequestered is not yet monetized
The area cultivated by each farmer is between 0.1 and 10 hectares
There is local engagement and organizational capacity to undertake the project for a minimum of 20 years
Every farmer has proof of formal or informal land tenure
Types of project coordinators we would like to partner up with include NGOs, farmers’ co-ops, trading companies, and governments.
Interested in collaborating with Acorn? Our checklist can be found here. All set, or do you still have some questions? Contact us and our team will be in touch shortly.
There are serveral conditions that need to be met. For a more elaborate checklist please consult the Acorn Framework
Your project includes new agroforestry or existing agroforestry with a maximum of 5 years since trees were planted
Potential scale of the project is 2.000+ ha
Presence of legal right to sell Carbon Removal Units (no restricting governmental policy)
No deforestation took place in the project area in the last 5 years
No carbon credits are being sold or have been previously sold by farmers
The size cultivated per farmer between 0.1 and 10 hectares
There is local engagement and organizational capacity to undertake the project for a minimum of 20 years
Farmers have proof of formal or informal land tenure
Acorn does not provide direct financing to start agroforestry projects. However, Acorn has dedicated staff available to support with the development of the Business Case. Our staff actively searches for funding sources and connects them with our local partners to finance start-up costs of their projects.
The main costs for the project coordinator purely consist of resources to onboard the organization and the project (e.g. providing the information), data collection, and monitoring. These costs strongly depend on what is already in place in terms of information and digitization.
Most costs are related however to the implementation of the agroforestry design. The Acorn team is happy to support with the development of a business case for both the project coordinator and the farmer to ensure it makes sense for all parties involved to be part of the collaboration.
Peru coffee producers generate income by combating climate change
In Peru, coffee producers are generating income by combating climate change. In a joint project of Solidaridad and Acorn, producers are participating in the international carbon market.
Colombian coffee producers fight climate change
Can our morning cup of coffee help capture carbon? Acorn is the world's first direct trade platform allowing companies to offset their emissions. Find out how.
Together, Rabobank and Microsoft created an online carbon removal unit marketplace that connects large corporations with smallholder farmers who sequester carbon through agroforestry.
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