This archive report was first published on 28 November 2019.
Launched in August, the DOEN Land Restoration Prize has received over 220 applications from startups worldwide. Among the finalists are Green Fingers Mobile from South Africa, Zafree Papers from Ethiopia, and Lono from the Ivory Coast.
Green Fingers Mobile is a mobile-first Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology platform that enables organizations working with smallholder farmers to meet the criteria of food corps and provide a transparent value chain. In partnership with reforestation projects, they enable the tracking and monitoring of the disbursement to, and planting of trees by small farmers to counter the depletion of forests that small-scale farming causes.
On the other hand, Zafree Papers manufactures 100% tree-free unbleached paper pulp and paper products using agro waste. The company saves more than half a million trees from being cut every year, which have a higher positive impact, and 30,000 tons of crop-residue from being set on fire.
Lono is a social enterprise created to develop new value chains from biowaste produced across the country. The clean-tech company focuses on improving soil fertility through the development of an affordable, solar-powered composting box for smallholder farmers.
The DOEN Land Restoration Prize will be announced on December 5th, at The Fox Junction, in the afternoon. The winner will receive a 9-month access to the Seedstars Investment Readiness Program and an additional USD 10K grant.
"We congratulate the finalists! Landscape restoration is a vital part of a regenerative economy and social entrepreneurs play an important role in establishing innovative business models to counter land degradation and deforestation," says Saskia Werther, Program Manager at the DOEN Foundation.
