The NARA Climate Community Biochar Project announced that it has issued, verified, and sold its first batch of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits.
Positioned in the Turkana region in Kenya, an area dense in refugee population, the NARA project stands out as the world’s first refugee-led carbon project. It runs across two Kenyan communities: Kakuma and the Kerio.
Located in an arid area, the initiative tackles an invasive type of shrub called Prosopis juliflora, which it uses as feedstock to produce CO2-dense biochar.
The resulting biochar product keeps the carbon dioxide locked away from the atmosphere in a stable form, while the land cleared from the shrubs is once again made available to local communities, who use it for agricultural purposes.
Developed by a group of partners, NARA is a joint venture between NARA Climate, Criou Energy Ltd., and Planboo.
A volume of 144 tCO2e has now been generated from the project, and the credits have been verified and issued as C-Sinks on the Carbon Standards International (CSI) registry. As shared in the announcement, this first batch of credits has already been sold to CDR buyers.
The biochar product helps address the issue of saline soils in this region by balancing the soil pH and improving its water-holding capacity, which in turn strengthens the soil’s ability to store nutrients, creating better crop-growing conditions.
To track the achieved CO2 removal, the project relies on a comprehensive measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) technology developed by Planboo that captures key data at every step from biomass harvesting to applying biochar to fields.
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Besides delivering carbon removal, the Nara biochar project is especially important for the co-benefits it generates in this underserved area, as the initiative helps increase the food security and income opportunities in this arid part of the country.
According to its developers, by operating in both the Kakuma and Kerio communities, the project provides around 123 jobs across five community cooperatives, which are refugee-led and sell crops to the Kakuma camp and local markets.
Project data indicates that Nara’s workforce includes roughly 50% women and refugees.
