Investing in Nature-Based Solutions for Climate and Land Resilience

By Temidayo Paul Aturu



Hellen, a smallholder farmer in sub-Saharan Africa, stands in her young maize field, beside a fast-growing tree she planted seasons ago. Pointing to the tree with pride, she says, "This tree is my support. It gives shade, food, and helps me earn a little extra when I use its leaves and seeds.”


For Hellen and many women in the region, land degradation is not just an environmental problem; it’s a daily struggle. Wind erosion, poor rainfall, and years of overgrazing had left her family’s farmland barren. But through a local agroforestry initiative, Hellen learned to restore fertility by planting native tree species alongside staple crops like maize and cowpea. This is one example of how nature-based solutions are helping communities restore land, build resilience, and improve livelihoods.

What Are Nature-Based Solutions?

Nature-based solutions are actions that work with and enhance nature to address societal challenges, delivering benefits for both biodiversity and human well-being. These include a wide range of practices like reforestation, wetland restoration, regenerative agriculture, and green infrastructure. Among them, agroforestry (the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes) stands out for its ability to simultaneously support food security, climate resilience, biodiversity, and rural livelihoods.

Agroforestry is not new. Many Indigenous and traditional communities around the world have long understood the value of combining trees with farming. What’s new is the growing recognition in policy that agroforestry is not just a nice idea but a necessity.

As governments and institutions incorporate agroforestry into climate strategies and agricultural reforms, the practice is finally receiving the attention (and investment) it has long deserved. For instance, within the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the practice is now identified as a core part of the transition toward more ecological and resilient farming systems. This reflects a shift in how land is valued, not only for food production, but also for the vital ecological services it provides.

Proven Benefits of Agroforestry in Europe

According to the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF), agroforestry has significant untapped potential across Europe. Research shows that well-designed agroforestry systems can increase total land productivity by up to 40% compared to conventional monocultures, due to more efficient resource use.

A comprehensive meta-analysis found that agroforestry systems can sequester an average of 2.1 tons of carbon per hectare per year in temperate climates. This is significantly higher than conventional agricultural systems and represents a crucial contribution toward meeting the EU’s climate neutrality goal by 2050.

To institutionalize this shift, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027 now includes eco-schemes that incentivize agroforestry adoption across member states. France, Spain, and Portugal have already introduced incentives for farmers planting trees or maintaining traditional tree-crop systems like dehesas and montados.

This growing institutional backing is not only about sustainability; it’s also about resilience. And the policy momentum goes even further.

The recently adopted Nature Restoration Law (NRL) mandates the restoration of at least 20% of degraded EU land and sea areas by 2030, scaling up to 90% by 2050. Agroforestry fits nicely within this mandate, a nature-based solution that restores biodiversity while supporting food systems and rural economies.

Implementing these green policies is not without cost. The European Commission estimates that restoring 30% of priority habitats will require €8.2 billion per year. However, for every €1 invested in nature restoration, the EU expects a return of €8 to €38, through benefits such as flood prevention, improved air and water quality, climate resilience, and mental health. One study even suggests a 12-fold return on investment over the long term.

Mobilizing Finance for Nature-Based Solutions

Funding mechanisms are being mobilized to meet this ambition. Beyond the CAP and the NRL, Europe is drawing on instruments such as:

• The LIFE Programme (€5.45 billion for 2021–2027)
• The InvestEU and NextGenerationEU funds (targeting recovery and resilience)
• Financing through the European Investment Bank (EIB), which aims to mobilize €1 trillion in green investment by 2030.

Globally, mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund provide additional support, especially for cross-border climate actions that link biodiversity, agriculture, and resilience. In Africa, regional initiatives such as the AFR100 have mobilized pledges of over $2 billion in private and public finance to restore degraded African landscapes. In Ethiopia, the Humbo Assisted Natural Regeneration Project restored over 2,700 hectares of degraded land using low-cost techniques that empowered local communities, generating carbon credits and securing financing from the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund. In Ghana, farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) in the Talensi district helped reverse desertification, supported by World Vision and local governments.

These examples illustrate two paths: one where financing comes through global mechanisms and carbon markets, and another where simple, community-driven methods attract development partner support and prove highly replicable. In Kenya’s Makindu region, for instance, smallholder farmers are integrating moringa and pigeon pea trees into their crop fields with micro-grants from local NGOs; demonstrating how even minimal funding, when aligned with local realities, can yield significant resilience benefits.

Ultimately, this growing institutional backing is not just about sustainability; it’s about people like Hellen, whose lives are directly shaped by the climate and the land. Just as she restored her farm with native trees, farmers across continents are planting hope with every sapling. In Niger, women’s cooperatives have regenerated degraded plateaus using simple water-harvesting pits (zai), supported by small grants and technical training. These human stories remind us that nature-based solutions aren’t abstract; they’re grounded in resilience, dignity, and a deep-rooted connection to the land.

With strong public funding and supportive policies, the risks of investing are falling while the rewards are rising. This is a chance for private investors to get in early and benefit from growing markets like carbon credits, sustainable farming, and green infrastructure. The momentum is real, the support is in place, and the returns (for people, planet, and profit) are hard to ignore.



This article was produced by the author in collaboration with eGro — a Founding Partner of Fellow Future, committed to advancing nature-based solutions for people and planet.