Background and context
The lack of access to finance remains a major impediment to landscape restoration[1]. This is especially true for community-led restoration efforts by grassroots actors such as youth, women, and faith actors[2]. At the same time, the restoration movement would greatly benefit from their inclusion. The youth, for example, make up the largest demographic in Kenya’s population (75%) and women especially in rural areas play critical roles in the management of natural resources. Faith leaders have significant influence over their congregants, an opportunity that can be harnessed to propel the restoration movement. Access to finances for restoration will therefore incentivize their participation.
This webinar will therefore focus on showcasing and exploring various finance options (local, regional, and international) that youth, women, and faith actors can access to support their restoration initiatives. These options include sustainable business models e.g., viable green value chains, grants, crowdfunding, and sustainable finance options (climate/carbon finance). The purpose of this one-of-a-kind webinar will be to show these actors the various finance options available for them that they can tap into.
Objectives:
- To showcase the various finance options available for community-led restoration efforts.
- To promote the understanding of emerging finance options such as carbon and climate finance.
Target audience: This webinar is targeting youth, women, faith actors and private sector actors involved in restoration.
Expected outcomes: Greater access to finance for restoration by community actors due to awareness of finance options.
The webinar is divided into three sessions:
- Session 1: Grants: Several grants available to local actors and groups will be showcased in this session. This includes opportunities for crowdfunding and accelerators.
- Session 2: Ecopreneurship: This session will introduce models for creating sustainable business models around restoration initiatives. Several examples of value chains will also be showcased.
- Session 3: Sustainable finance: An introduction to emerging trends for financing restoration specifically carbon and climate finance will be provided. A case study of carbon finance will also be showcased.
Watch the webinar’s recording