Project SCALE is co-created by FIM, FAGRIB and GGWoA. The project aims to engage the private sector in developing market-based restoration solution for the Sahel landscape.

The goal of this program is to engage the government, NGOs, local and international communities, and private sector to drive market-based restoration to catalyze the efforts of the Great Green Wall Initiative. 

The African Union’s emerging community-based approach to reinvigorating the Great Green Wall Initiative can still reverse these trends. In addition to the hoped-for foreign donor financing, there are numerous opportunities for the private sector to play a transformative role that can have immediate impact and benefit for farmers and pastoralist alike, and help meet or exceed their own corporate ESG targets as well as contribute to the fulfilment of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Regenerative agriculture and agroforestry, and restored forests and perennial grassland landscapes will create: 

▪ Bankable regenerative agri-value chains supporting food security, job creation and offering new opportunities for international sourcing with commodities such as alfalfa, balanites, shea butter, cashew, moringa, sesame, jute, and gum arabic, baobab, honey, hot pepper, black & While pepper, sesame, pigeon peas, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla, dates, livestock, poultry, beans, garlic, Onion, wild mango, mango, lemon, lime, orange, supported by fair and open market information systems, extension service providers, input suppliers, and digital financial services. 

▪ Greenhouse gas (GHG) offset credits from the increased storage of CO2 equivalents through regenerative agricultural practices that build soil organic carbon and reduce nitrogen and methane emissions. Agroforestry adds protection for fields, additional crops, and biomass. 

Most farmers in Africa are operating at forty percent of capacity, and the major cause is lack of access to finance. Digital financial tools for the farmer and the farm value chain can hasten regenerative agriculture and sustainable land-use transformations. They can provide access to credit to purchase farm inputs, produce organic fertilizers, develop and distribute improved seeds and seedling varieties. Crop insurance can help farmers to better manage risk. Pooled assets from benefit-sharing mechanisms can convert income from carbon credits into community-owned and operated cooperatives with storage facilities and microfinance. Investment in farm finance can help create more arable land and grow more food.