Regen Library #8 - Regenerating The Sahel - Healing The Soil - Simon Eze & Adaeze Okafor

Transcript

hello all JT here in today's regen Library we'll be looking at the impacts of climate change in the Sahel region of Africa and explore how regenerative agriculture combined with indigenous knowledge along with refi and web3 can help these local communities combat climate change Simon AZ and adase Okafor here for a refi Community story Simon is an entrepreneur a climate researcher and refi Dow content contributor and he's also co-founder of Ubi adase is a soil scientist and refi by South ambassador in Nigeria and with that let's explore

this the hell small holder Farmers produce one-third of the world's food helping to feed the planet's 8 billion people across developing countries rural economies account for a significant share of natural Capital employment and output but are widely characterized by severe work deficits and poverty hosting nearly 80 percent of the world's poor the Sahel region which stretches 5410 kilometers from west to east Africa from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Red Sea is one of the most promising

in the world however this territory is characterized by persistent poverty fragile ecosystems and a changing climate with temperatures projected to be one and a half times higher than the global average sahelian countries are being pushed beyond their abilities to adapt regenerative Finance also known as refi aims to create eight Financial systems that support sustainable economic growth and environmental stewardship has the potential to play a critical role in addressing climate adaption and food Justice in the Sahel region refi is crypto's answer to sustainable initiatives as the need to

address climate change grows so does interest in the refi projects especially in Africa the invisible enemy to all of this is climate change millions of smallholder farmers in the Sahel region rely on rain-fed agriculture for a living however the region is prone to frequent droughts desertification and other environmental challenges making it difficult for Farmers to produce enough food to meet the needs of the growing population crop failures livestock losses and reduced access to water are all effects of climate change consequently leading to food crises

migration and widespread terrorism in the region according to the food and agriculture organization the percentage of irrigated farming in the Sahel region is relatively low it is estimated that only 1.4 percent of the total agricultural land in the region are irrigated compared to the global average of around 20 percent the low percentage of irrigated farming is due to several factors including the high cost of irrigation infrastructure water scarcity and limited access to financing for small holder Farmers poor access to agriculture financing has left lots of smallholder farmers unbanked and out of the farming business consequently

increasing agricultural infrastructure and food deficit however ongoing efforts to increase irrigated agriculture use in the region including large-scale projects like the great green wall otherwise known as the ggw are aimed at promoting sustainable land management practices and expanding irrigated agriculture to improve agricultural productivity and food Security in the Sahel by 2030 the great green wall initiative hopes to have restored 100 million hectares of degraded land that's over 300 150 000 square miles other goals will be to sequester 250 million

tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs according to a report by the African Development Bank the total cost of adapting to climate change in the continent is estimated to be between 20 billion U.S and 30 billion U.S per year however the actual amount of Finance currently being provided for climate change adaption and mitigation initiatives in the region is far below this estimate to end poverty and meet the nutritional needs of a growing global population in the Sahel region we must promote agricultural Investments and develop rural economies this is acknowledged in the sustainable

development goals or the sdg of the 2030 agenda which aim to accelerate the rural economy and ensure sustainable consumption and production the global regenerative agriculture Market size is expected to reach 23.84 billion USD by 2030 with refi we can align people technology and financial incentives with the principles of sustainability and regeneration refi can help address the climate Finance deficit in the Sahel region by promoting sustainable agriculture practices these practices include agroforestry conservation Agriculture and other

regenerative farming methods that promote soil Health reduce water usage and increase crop yields to bridge the financial gaps and accelerate investments in agriculture and real world assets emerging startups like landex are launching a digital currency backed by real world agricultural Commodities corn rice wheat and soybeans called xusd stablecoin boundless pay is creating an offline payment solution using SMS verification for the unbanked population in an effort to enhance Financial inclusion boundless pay targets offline users in blockchain and in the future rollouts will include an

offline system where users can receive withdrawal codes using SMS and email by 2050 the population of countries in the Sahel region is expected to increase from dramatically Niger is expected to grow from 25 million to more than 65 million Burkina Faso from 21.6 million to 43.4 million and Nigeria from 212 million to 401 million agriculture employs more than 90 percent of the sahel's population and the region is one of the world's most youthful with approximately 64 percent of the population under the age of 25.

investing in regenerative agriculture can Aid in the adaption of local Nomads and Farmers to the effects of climate change policies and initiatives that promote food sovereignty or the right of people to determine their food systems can also help address the Sahel Region's growing food crisis supporting bio Regional governance establishing a network of local nodes and encouraging the use of indigenous seeds are examples of initiatives with potential to help regenerate and promote food sovereignty in the region indigenous farmers can also sponsor irrigation projects and regenerate the environment by leveraging the rapidly growing carbon Market here

are some examples of projects driving agricultural investments in sustainable land use in Africa soilless Farm lab enabling food security and green skills by integrating modern Technologies in Hydroponics and aeroponic Greenhouse farming soilist lab has trained over 13 000 African youths in climate smart agriculture house Africa a property Tech startup digitizing physical asset payments Land Title allocation and verification on the blockchain ba Network developing a decentralized ecological data Oracle for smallholder

Farmers using digital mrv aggro Exchange building a satellite data system to monitor crop health and provide early warning information to smallholder Farmers fall Gates an emerging rice brand with a 1005 hectare Farm in kaduna and a 300 tons per day Milling facility falgates is the owner of fall rice and works closely with smallholder Farmers to revolutionize rice farming crop development and Seed processing in Nigeria Ubi Africa building a business to business digital distribution platform for farmers and emerging food

producers in Africa key to all this is adapting indigenous knowledge in addition to Modern Technologies and refined Solutions indigenous knowledge and inclusion is key for centuries sahelian Nomads have been using indigenous knowledge of the land and animal behavior to track herbs and predict weather patterns for example the old age zaw technique was practiced in the Sahel digging small pits in the soil to catch water and retain it in the root zone of crops combining traditional knowledge with modern Technologies can provide a powerful tool for climate adaption efforts in the Sahel stakeholders can make informed decisions

about how to manage their land and identify which regenerative agriculture practices are most effective in the Sahel region by collecting data on soil Health crop yields and other metrics this can help to track progress over time and guide future efforts to improve land health and food Security in the Sahel region in summary it is more than possible to restore the health of the land and enhance food security for the local population through a coordinated network of farmers and stakeholders who are educated and incentivized to this goal and by utilizing technology Partnerships data and the emerging systems of

regenerative Finance although there are obstacles to putting this strategy into practice let us approach these challenges with pragmatic optimism and invest in the power of collaboration and Innovation to transform the Sahel into a thriving sustainable ecosystem for generations to come for more on refi Legos writings and including the one in this video check out all the links in the description below follow us on Twitter at greenpill net and visit us at greenpill.network on behalf of green pill my name is JT cheers and big hugs from Kansas City [Music]