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Turning Restored Land into Rural Prosperity

Are you building a business that makes money by healing the land?

Across the Sahel and Great Green Wall countries, powerful practices like Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), smart grazing, and land restoration are transforming drylands into productive landscapes. These changes are creating new opportunities—not just for nature, but for business.

Now is the time to grow businesses rooted in this new abundance. For example:

  • New food products developed from wild or underused plants
  • Machinery-for-hire
  • Apps linking farmers to financial services, market data, climate alerts, insurance…
  • Innovative advisory services
  • Regenerative livestock businesses

Or something the world has never seen before!

Are you that innovator? Have you launched that business? Then we want to hear from you! 

✅ Who should apply?

We want to hear from entrepreneurs who:

  • Are already testing or running a business linked to land restoration
  • Have something real in place – not just an idea on paper
  • Are creating value for rural people
  • Are helping to restore the land
  • Have the will and drive to scale up across a region.

As the Hausa saying has it, “Idan raƙumi ya ce za shi tafi, dole ne ya ɗauki kaya”
(When a camel says it’s ready to go, it must be ready to carry a load). If you say you’re ready, be ready.

This call is open to applicants working in these 11 Great Green Wall countries:

🇸🇳 Senegal, 🇲🇷 Mauritania, 🇲🇱 Mali, 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso, 🇳🇪 Niger, 🇳🇬 Nigeria, 🇹🇩 Chad, 🇸🇩 Sudan, 🇪🇹 Ethiopia, 🇪🇷 Eritrea, 🇩🇯 Djibouti.

❌ Who should not apply?

“You do not sharpen your knife on the day of the hunt.”

If you’re just thinking about starting something, this call is not for you.

If your work is limited to planting trees, expanding an existing shop, or running a general NGO, this call is not for you.

We are looking for those who have already taken the first steps, and are now ready to grow fast and far.

🏆 Why apply?

The best ideas will receive:

  • Recognition and visibility
  • Tailored technical support
  • And financial support from the K4GGWA Innovation Facility

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2025

You’re not a rural business? Don’t worry. K4GGWA runs two calls per year until 2027, each with a different theme. Yours may be next!  Learn more about the K4GGWA Innovation Facility here. 

The application has been closed.