Enabling Smallholder Farmers to Access the Global Carbon Market — Marketplace of Ideas Invitation

Can you help us to develop a system that democratizes access to carbon markets for smallholder farmers in Uganda? The Frontier Technology Livestreaming programme, supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office is inviting you to contribute to a workshop to explore potential solutions. This workshop will help design an Invitation to Tender which will be shared shortly after the event.

The problem

Farming practices in Uganda currently drive an approximate 2.6% of forest loss every year as well as high land degradation affecting approximately 41% of land across the country. This leads to a cost equivalent to 17% of national GDP.

Whilst growing indigenous trees would increase land productivity and reduce degradation, it is often unaffordable for the individual farmer, or less attractive than alternative land uses.

Meanwhile, tree growing could offset carbon and the international voluntary carbon market indicates that there is a customer base willing to pay. However, many farmers are currently unable to access the market.

The proposed solution

Connecting Ugandan smallholder farmers to international voluntary carbon markets could provide a solution to Uganda’s land degradation issue, reducing soil erosion, improving soil structure and increasing fertility to increase land productivity whilst also providing opportunities for increasing income generation.

We believe that by enabling smallholder farmers to convert their carbon sequestration activities into certified carbon credits, rural livelihoods can be improved. By passing the proceeds of the credit sales from international buyers to smallholder farmers, they can build credit and a financial history that can be used to invest in future ventures such as children’s education. Positive reinforcement could enable the system to scale as more farmers and buyers are incentivised to join, expanding the possibilities for both community and individual financial investment.

How you can help

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is investing in a pilot project to explore how smallholder farmers in Uganda can gain access to carbon credits for sequestration activities. We are particularly interested in understanding where technologies might be able to make this connection easier, faster, or scalable. At this stage, we anticipate that this will comprise of a combination of technologies in order to verify activities on the ground, connect farmers to a platform to monitor funds and provide mobile payment solutions to return profits to farmers.

To get started, we are seeking to invite a range of stakeholders to a Marketplace of Ideas to share our current thinking, gather your feedback on what a solution might look like, and catalyse collaboration to turn this idea into a reality.

This event will feed into an Invitation to Tender which will lay out our requirements for a partner to take forward this work in the new year.

We are looking to work with a range of experts from smallholder farmers to verification agents and certification bodies to technology providers. If this sounds like a good fit, please put the date below in your diary and fill out the form to register interest.

Time: 13.00–16.00 EAT, Tuesday 11th January

Location: Zoom

To register your interest, please fill out your name and contact details on this form.