The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Fledge have partnered to create the Land Accelerator, a 4-day intense program to train and mentor African entrepreneurs focused on restoring degraded land. The 12 selected entrepreneurs have been chosen from almost 250 applications. At this Demo Day, the entrepreneurs will make brief pitches about their companies and will be available to answer questions from investors.
Lunch starts at noon with the program starting at 12:30 pm sharp. There is no fee thanks to the generous support of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the US State Department.
Here are the startups:
Akili Development (Kenya): Help small farmers to make money by connecting their produce to sustainable value chains.
Aoulaye Sesame (Niger): Plants sesame, fruit trees and Sahel apple to recover desertified land. Targeting export market.
Asili Oils (Rwanda): Manufactures essential oil from seeds of moringa trees. Fair trade partnership with Body Shop International.
Chabana Farms (Botswana): Makes high-quality organic livestock feed that is sold to farmers, wholesalers and government.
Edenfield Agriseed (Ethiopia): Sells high-quality seeds for indigenous trees, collected from forests by rural youth and women groups.
Green Pot Enterprises (Kenya): Produces bamboo seedlings in nurseries and establishes bamboo forests to meet energy and wood deficit.
Kete-Krachi Farms (Ghana): Sells cashew nuts for export to North America, Europe and Asia by working with small farmers.
Lentera (Kenya): Makes organic fertilizer using silicon to increase soil fertility and drought tolerance.
Moringa Miracles (Malawi): Will produce moringa leaf powder, seed and seed oil that will boost smallholder incomes by 61%.
Norelga Macadamia (Rwanda): Macadamia nut producer. Macadamia trees stabilize the soil and help farmers to fight soil erosion.
SA Bamboo Works (Ethiopia): Help to meet timber deficit by substituting bamboo to make flooring and furniture.
Safi Organics (Kenya): Makes organic fertilizer that reduces soil acidity and improves farmer yields by up to 30%.
