“As a start-up focusing on green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s extremely challenging for businesses on almost all fronts. However, Land Accelerator Africa’s quality business innovation training has breathed new life into my business. I have gained confidence in pitching my business model to investors” said Mojalefa Lefatle - founder of Environment Essential Projects and a Lesotho-based organization specializing in sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, and environmental services to promote economic growth and poverty reduction while preserving the environment in the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.

Humans are completely dependent on landscapes for every resource. However, climate change, overuse, and conversion for agriculture, cities, and infrastructure mean that one-fifth of the planet’s land area is degraded. This damage, which also drives drought and desertification, harms the livelihoods of almost half the planet’s population. The African Landscape Forest Restoration Initiative’s (AFR100) Land Accelerator Africa realizes that healthy land can bring food, water, and income to local communities while storing planet-warming carbon and protecting vulnerable biodiversity.

“Post COVID-19 we build back better with healthy land and in Africa, a land-centered approach to deforestation and land degradation recovery can shift the continent’s economies to a sustainability trajectory,” said Lamine Abou Kader of Niger E3D, a company working on organic pesticides and producing Neem products.

The Land Accelerator equips entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills to tackle this issue by building economically viable, sustainable businesses that safeguard our planet and provide livelihoods for millions of people.

“Since the program’s inception this April we’ve experienced a  very active cohort registering over 100 pax attendance for our Tuesday's training and almost 80 pax joining our  Thursday Peer Learning sessions,” said Samuel Kabiru, Land Accelerator Africa lead at World Resource Institute Africa.

Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes, and increases food security. It helps biodiversity to recover. It locks away the atmospheric carbon warming the Earth, slowing climate change.

“As African countries look for best pathways to build more durable, inclusive, and resilient economies, accelerator programs such as Land Accelerator Africa provides a unique and timely opportunity to stress the need that our lives and livelihoods are built on healthy landscapes,” Teko Nhlapo, Land Accelerator Africa Lead at the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD).

In 2018, Fledge, World Resources Institute (WRI), and AUDA-NEPAD launched the Land Accelerator Africa, the world’s first training and mentorship program targeted specifically toward businesses that restore degraded forests, farmland, and pasture.

Launched in 2015 at the UN climate conference in Paris (COP21), AFR100 is a Pan-African initiative to bring 100 million hectares of land in Africa into restoration by 2030 led by AUDA-NEPAD. The initiative facilitates coordination, knowledge sharing, and investment toward restoring land across the continent, guided by African stakeholders — from community leaders and smallholder farmers to government representatives at all levels and investors.