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Nuru International has made significant progress in alleviating rural poverty through a locally-led, market-based approach. Nuru’s efforts have enabled more than 54,000 farmers to adapt to climate change, protecting biodiversity and restoring soil. Erratic rainfalls followed by flooding delayed the planting of crops, prompting Nuru to help farmers by providing information about timing of planting and localized weather forecasts. To further support farmers, Nuru is introducing talking books as a training tool to supplement climate-smart agricultural practices when staff cannot be physically present. Their thriving farmer-owned agribusinesses demonstrate sustainable support for local food systems and economic potential, earning Nuru recognition as a 2023 Zayed Sustainability Prize finalist.

In Kenya, Nuru supported more than 6,000 farmer households during 2023 and 2024 by integrating climate-smart agriculture practices that improved production and land use efficiency, leading to a nearly two-fold increase in registered farmers. Nuru’s initiatives have particularly impacted women: 37% of all Nuru-supported farmers are women, rising to 71% in Nigeria. This has created a positive ripple effect in their communities, increasing incomes and ensuring access to education and nutritious food.

In 2024, ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation network partnered with National Geographic’s Pristine Seas, significantly advancing ocean conservation efforts. Since 2008, Pristine Seas has supported the creation of 29 marine protected areas covering 6.8 million square kilometers, enhancing biodiversity, capturing carbon, and boosting local economies. A notable achievement in 2024 was the creation of a 287,000-square-kilometer marine protected area in the Azores. This science-based and highly participatory process, led by the regional government, has led to the formation of the Azores Marine Protected Area Network, which safeguards deep-sea corals, whales, dolphins, sharks, manta rays, other fish and unique hydrothermal vent ecosystems. The Pristine Seas team conducted much of the research and scientific data. In addition, they made a groundbreaking discovery in the Solomon Islands: the world’s largest coral, measuring an astonishing 34 meters wide and 32 meters long. This discovery highlights the tremendous biodiversity within these protected areas and highlights the necessity of ongoing conservation efforts to safeguard such unique marine environments for future generations.

In 2024, the ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation network launched a new partnership with Save the Redwoods League to support the Redwood Land Fund, a vehicle to acquire forest land at imminent risk of destruction. Demand for timber and luxury real estate has devastated the vast and ancient redwood forests that once stretched from central California to southern Oregon. Today, only 5% of the original coastal redwood range remains.

Although funding only began in September 2024, this partnership marks an important step in our commitment to safeguarding biodiversity and restoring critical ecosystems. The Redwood Land Fund aims to help acquire and protect 1,500 hectares of redwood forests in Sonoma and Mendocino counties in California. These areas provide essential habitat for threatened species, such as northern spotted owls, foothill yellow-legged frogs and Coho salmon, while holding cultural significance for Indigenous communities such as the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians.

Since 1918, Save the Redwoods League has worked to protect California’s redwood forests. Beyond funding, we have also supported capacity-building by helping the League strengthen its impact reporting framework and deepen its engagement with local communities; such efforts have included training on fire management practices, supporting long-term stewardship and strengthening the resilience of these precious ecosystems. We look forward to contributing to this legacy and tracking the impact of this collaboration in the years ahead.

In 2024, the ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation network partnered with One Acre Fund to enhance climate resilience for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan African countries, through programs in Burundi and Rwanda. Their collectively aim is to provide more than 650,000 smallholder farm households with access to agricultural inputs, agroforestry awareness, training on climate-smart agriculture and market access by 2029.
Smallholder farmers in Africa are among the populations most vulnerable to climate change, despite having some of the lowest per capita carbon emissions. The World Bank estimates that by 2030, 90% of the world’s population experiencing extreme poverty will reside in sub-Saharan Africa, and climate change is likely to exacerbate the situation by causing yield reductions of up to 33% by 2050.One Acre Fund’s comprehensive model aims to create pathways to prosperity for smallholder farm families. For example, agroforestry (farm-level tree planting) can provide smallholders with sustainable income sources through timber, fruit and nut sales while improving soil health, erosion control and carbon sequestration.

In addition to funding, we are working with One Acre Fund to help extend their external networks, particularly around insurance innovation. Recognizing that even the best-prepared smallholder farmers face devastating risks in the event of a climate, extreme weather or health shock, we are connecting One Acre Fund with sectoral experts in our ecosystem to explore the creation of new innovative insurance-linked impact products that provide a fiscal safety net to the most vulnerable farmers and their families. This collaboration aims to address a critical protection gap and support long-term financial resilience for smallholder families.

One of the most cost-effective nature-based climate solutions is to simply ensure existing forests are left standing. Under Tanzania’s 1999 Land Act, approximately 70% of land is owned and managed by local communities. But many local communities lack the resources to sustainably utilize the natural assets they possess, resulting in Tanzania loosing up to 500,000 hectares of forest annually. The Village Climate Solutions initiative helps rural communities in Tanzania preserve their forest reserves by establishing forest boundaries, remotely monitoring deforestation, providing training for patrols and compensating communities according to their success in forest conservation from the proceeds of carbon-credit sales on international markets.

The Village Climate Solutions project is expected to generate approximately 300,000 verified carbon units (VCUs) annually for the next 30 years and has secured an off-taker agreement with a German buyer of credits at a price of USDÌý10 per VCU, with a 2.5% annual increase. The project is expected to break even following successful validation, which is anticipated around two years after the initial capital injection. The project will protect over 300,000 hectares of forest while significantly benefiting more than 120,000 people across 60 rural villages. More than 51% of the total revenue from credit sales, estimated at around USDÌý1.7 million per year, will be directed back to the local communities. Villages receive USDÌý4.08 per metric ton of avoided CO~2~ emissions.

In 2023, the ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation network provided an investment readiness grant of approximately USDÌý200,000 and subsequently invested USDÌý1.1 million through a five-year impact loan to the project in 2024. Interest payments on the loan are linked to non-carbon outcomes (co-benefits), such as livelihood improvements, which are not fully monetized by carbon markets. In addition to financing the Village Climate Solutions carbon project through an impact loan, the ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation network is developing the Outcomes-Based Nature Financing (OBNF), mechanism. This mechanism enables the project to secure payments for both carbon outcomes and co-benefits.