With the backing of six funders led by the Bezos Earth Fund, TerraFund for AFR100, a coalition of World Resources Institute (WRI), One Tree Planted, Realize Impact, and Barka Fund has financed 100 land restoration projects across Africa.
TerraFund, previously known as the Rural Prosperity Bond, provides loans to SMEs working in land restoration in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The instrument was endorsed by the Lab in 2020.
In 2022, TerraFund deployed its first grants and loans of USD 50,000 to USD 500,000 to 100 innovators across 27 countries. To date, the cohort has grown 12.5 million trees, paid 36,000 people to work, and benefitted 202,000 more people.
Two years later, WRI has published a blog on key lessons learned from the initiative.