Case study
Case study
Case study
NGO
NGO
NGO
How Farm Africa turned field results into evidence its funders could trust
How Farm Africa turned field results into evidence its funders could trust
How Farm Africa turned field results into evidence its funders could trust
About
Farm Africa
Farm Africa is an international NGO that has worked alongside smallholder farmers, pastoralists and forest communities across eastern Africa since 1985, helping them raise yields, grow incomes and build resilience to a changing climate. Through its Strengthening Regenerative Agriculture in Kenya (STRAK) programme - funded by the IKEA Foundation through AGRA - Farm Africa has supported more than 50,000 farmers in Embu and Tharaka Nithi counties to adopt regenerative practices that restore soil health while improving farm productivity. To scale that work, and to prove its value to the funders and partners behind it, Farm Africa needed verifiable evidence of what those practices were doing to the land.
About
Farm Africa
Farm Africa is an international NGO that has worked alongside smallholder farmers, pastoralists and forest communities across eastern Africa since 1985, helping them raise yields, grow incomes and build resilience to a changing climate. Through its Strengthening Regenerative Agriculture in Kenya (STRAK) programme - funded by the IKEA Foundation through AGRA - Farm Africa has supported more than 50,000 farmers in Embu and Tharaka Nithi counties to adopt regenerative practices that restore soil health while improving farm productivity. To scale that work, and to prove its value to the funders and partners behind it, Farm Africa needed verifiable evidence of what those practices were doing to the land.
About
Farm Africa
Farm Africa is an international NGO that has worked alongside smallholder farmers, pastoralists and forest communities across eastern Africa since 1985, helping them raise yields, grow incomes and build resilience to a changing climate. Through its Strengthening Regenerative Agriculture in Kenya (STRAK) programme - funded by the IKEA Foundation through AGRA - Farm Africa has supported more than 50,000 farmers in Embu and Tharaka Nithi counties to adopt regenerative practices that restore soil health while improving farm productivity. To scale that work, and to prove its value to the funders and partners behind it, Farm Africa needed verifiable evidence of what those practices were doing to the land.
Kenya
location
Kenya
location
Kenya
location
45,719
HA
45,719
HA
45,719
HA
STRAK
regenerative programme
STRAK
regenerative programme
STRAK
regenerative programme
50,000+ farmers
programme reach
50,000+ farmers
programme reach
50,000+ farmers
programme reach
challenges
Proving the programme worked, at scale
Farm Africa had no scalable way to measure soil carbon across 50,000 farms. Without that evidence, there is no way to prove impact to the funders and carbon markets the programme depended on.
challenges
Proving the programme worked, at scale
Farm Africa had no scalable way to measure soil carbon across 50,000 farms. Without that evidence, there is no way to prove impact to the funders and carbon markets the programme depended on.
challenges
Proving the programme worked, at scale
Farm Africa had no scalable way to measure soil carbon across 50,000 farms. Without that evidence, there is no way to prove impact to the funders and carbon markets the programme depended on.
challenge 1
Proving impact at scale
Regenerative practices were working, but no credible way existed to measure soil carbon across thousands of farms.
challenge 1
Proving impact at scale
Regenerative practices were working, but no credible way existed to measure soil carbon across thousands of farms.
challenge 1
Proving impact at scale
Regenerative practices were working, but no credible way existed to measure soil carbon across thousands of farms.
challenge 2
Unlocking carbon finance
Without verifiable SOC data, farmers couldn't reach the markets that reward soil restoration.
challenge 2
Unlocking carbon finance
Without verifiable SOC data, farmers couldn't reach the markets that reward soil restoration.
challenge 2
Unlocking carbon finance
Without verifiable SOC data, farmers couldn't reach the markets that reward soil restoration.
challenge 3
Securing long-term funding
Funders needed proof the programme delivered before backing it to scale.
challenge 3
Securing long-term funding
Funders needed proof the programme delivered before backing it to scale.
challenge 3
Securing long-term funding
Funders needed proof the programme delivered before backing it to scale.
Our response
Measured soil outcomes, at scale
We measured soil carbon across the entire STRAK landscape from 2017, fusing earth observation with ground-truth data. It needed no field campaigns and no farm visits, and it tracked how the soil actually changed over time.
Our response
Measured soil outcomes, at scale
We measured soil carbon across the entire STRAK landscape from 2017, fusing earth observation with ground-truth data. It needed no field campaigns and no farm visits, and it tracked how the soil actually changed over time.
Our response
Measured soil outcomes, at scale
We measured soil carbon across the entire STRAK landscape from 2017, fusing earth observation with ground-truth data. It needed no field campaigns and no farm visits, and it tracked how the soil actually changed over time.
response 1
Measured the whole landscape
Annual soil carbon across thousands of farms, from earth observation and ground-truth data.
response 1
Measured the whole landscape
Annual soil carbon across thousands of farms, from earth observation and ground-truth data.
response 1
Measured the whole landscape
Annual soil carbon across thousands of farms, from earth observation and ground-truth data.
response 2
Made the data finance-ready
Verifiable change over time, robust enough to support carbon finance through Rabobank Acorn.
response 2
Made the data finance-ready
Verifiable change over time, robust enough to support carbon finance through Rabobank Acorn.
response 2
Made the data finance-ready
Verifiable change over time, robust enough to support carbon finance through Rabobank Acorn.
response 3
Gave funders evidence, not estimates
Independent, landscape-level data Farm Africa could report with confidence.
response 3
Gave funders evidence, not estimates
Independent, landscape-level data Farm Africa could report with confidence.
response 3
Gave funders evidence, not estimates
Independent, landscape-level data Farm Africa could report with confidence.
Key findings
Evidence at work
Key findings
Evidence at work
Key findings
Evidence at work
01
The economics stacked up
Benefit-Cost Ratio of 5.0 in Tharaka Nithi. Net benefits over Ksh 211,509 per hectare in Embu.
01
The economics stacked up
Benefit-Cost Ratio of 5.0 in Tharaka Nithi. Net benefits over Ksh 211,509 per hectare in Embu.
01
The economics stacked up
Benefit-Cost Ratio of 5.0 in Tharaka Nithi. Net benefits over Ksh 211,509 per hectare in Embu.
02
Farms grew more productive and resilient
Crop yields up to 81% per acre. Soil water retention up 92%.
02
Farms grew more productive and resilient
Crop yields up to 81% per acre. Soil water retention up 92%.
02
Farms grew more productive and resilient
Crop yields up to 81% per acre. Soil water retention up 92%.
03
Soil life recovered
Beneficial nematodes up 200%. AMF colonisation up 63%.
03
Soil life recovered
Beneficial nematodes up 200%. AMF colonisation up 63%.
03
Soil life recovered
Beneficial nematodes up 200%. AMF colonisation up 63%.
04
Carbon quantified, not estimated
SOC rose from the low 40s to around 50 tonnes per hectare, 2017 to 2024. Across the landscape, 1.11 million tonnes of soil organic carbon - roughly 4.07 million tonnes of CO2e.
04
Carbon quantified, not estimated
SOC rose from the low 40s to around 50 tonnes per hectare, 2017 to 2024. Across the landscape, 1.11 million tonnes of soil organic carbon - roughly 4.07 million tonnes of CO2e.
04
Carbon quantified, not estimated
SOC rose from the low 40s to around 50 tonnes per hectare, 2017 to 2024. Across the landscape, 1.11 million tonnes of soil organic carbon - roughly 4.07 million tonnes of CO2e.
05
The evidence did its job
Verifiable data supporting farmer participation in carbon finance through Rabobank Acorn.
05
The evidence did its job
Verifiable data supporting farmer participation in carbon finance through Rabobank Acorn.
05
The evidence did its job
Verifiable data supporting farmer participation in carbon finance through Rabobank Acorn.
customer perspective
These results clearly demonstrate that regenerative agriculture is not just an environmental intervention, it is an economic one.
Mary Nyale
Country Director, Farm Africa Kenya
customer perspective
These results clearly demonstrate that regenerative agriculture is not just an environmental intervention, it is an economic one.
Mary Nyale
Country Director, Farm Africa Kenya
customer perspective
These results clearly demonstrate that regenerative agriculture is not just an environmental intervention, it is an economic one.
Mary Nyale
Country Director, Farm Africa Kenya
On-farm outcome
Stanley Riungu harvested one bag of maize per acre. After regenerative practices, he harvested three from the same land.
On-farm outcome
Stanley Riungu harvested one bag of maize per acre. After regenerative practices, he harvested three from the same land.
On-farm outcome
Stanley Riungu harvested one bag of maize per acre. After regenerative practices, he harvested three from the same land.