Across Africa, landscapes are facing mounting pressures: land degradation, deforestation, declining soil fertility and the escalating impacts of the climate crisis. 

The 6th World Congress on Agroforestry (WCA6), held in Kigali, Rwanda, in October, underscored that restoring landscapes isn’t merely an ecological exercise; it’s a social, economic and technological mission. 

To restore Africa’s landscapes, we must think beyond isolated projects and shift toward large-scale, community-driven agroforestry, blending Indigenous knowledge with the latest scientific innovations.

For instance, by integrating timber species with grain crops, coffee, fruit trees and fodder sources, we can regenerate land while creating diverse income streams, boosting soil fertility and enhancing carbon sequestration. 

Innovations in agroforestry aren’t confined to the soil. They also include digital tools for tree monitoring, soil carbon tracking and water retention, which are redefining how restoration success is measured. 

At the same time, large-scale ecosystem restoration requires partnerships between scientists, financiers and communities. Farmers are also increasingly becoming involved in carbon markets and eco-enterprises, proving that restoration can be a key pathway to economic renewal.

Alongside the WCA6, the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Youth Summit on Biodiversity Action Corner highlighted the indispensable role of Africa’s young people in reshaping the continent’s landscapes.

Here are four great examples of youth-led innovations advancing restoration, biodiversity protection and green entrepreneurship from across Africa.

Oyster mushrooms tackling waste 

By Darlington Mafa, chapter coordinator, GLFx Harare, Zimbabwe

At GLFx Harare, we’re tackling plastic waste and boosting food security simultaneously. 

We’re doing this by helping rural communities grow low-cost oyster mushrooms out of recycled plastic bottles – a little hack that reimagines plastic waste as a resource.

The initiative is twofold. First, locals collect plastic soda bottles off the streets and cut them in half.

The top half of the bottle is filled with mushroom substrate – an organic material such as straw or compost, where mushrooms spawn grow. The bottom half is used to plant tree saplings to support local restoration efforts.

Once the mushrooms have been harvested, the leftover organic material is recycled as compost for the tree saplings. Selling and eating the mushrooms is a simple yet scalable model connecting food security within a rural circular economy.

Such innovations are the lifeblood of Africa’s restoration efforts.

At the congress, I was inspired by the concept of biodegradable plastic. I’d love to see this further explored and implemented across Southern African landscapes. 

Art to inspire climate action

By Eva ‘Kandi’ Makandi, founder, Light on a Hill (LOAH) and GLFx Meru

At the congress, we invited young people to step into a space where landscapes could be imagined, felt and re-created through art. 

In our playful studio, participants reconnected with the natural world by using simple, locally available natural materials to decorate eco-cards inspired by what they love most about nature: a familiar landscape, a treasured species or a place that carries memory and meaning. 

The process was intentionally open and reflective, allowing each participant to interpret the landscape in their own way, making art not just a product but an experience of noticing, appreciating and narrating the world around them.

The aim was to show that creative arts can be a powerful and accessible avenue for climate advocacy. Art can soften conversations, spark curiosity and build bridges between communities and nature. 

Advocacy doesn’t always require grand resources; it can begin with the materials already present in our environment and the stories held in our hearts.

Just like these seeds, young people across Africa are sprouting ideas, inspiring action and restoring landscapes one small act at a time.

Each participant went home with coriander seeds harvested from our kitchen garden in Meru, Kenya. We shared them as a reminder that it only takes one seed, nurtured with love, patience and care, to grow into a plant that feeds, heals and multiplies. 

The WCA6 was a profound affirmation of my work. It placed a spotlight on local action, farmers, youth and the deep wisdom of Indigenous and traditional communities, reminding us why community-rooted efforts are so vital to agroforestry. 

The theme People. Planet. Profit. challenged me to imagine how our work at LOAH can also weave in creative, nature-based livelihoods that sustain our restoration efforts. 

I left the congress with renewed hope and motivation to keep empowering our young learners in Meru and uplifting our beautiful farming community that continues to inspire everything we do.

Goat manure as organic fertilizer

By Sydner Kemunto, founder, Kijani Mtaani, and 2025 GLF Dryland Restoration Steward

In my community in Kenya, we use goat manure as an organic fertilizer that restores soil structure and enhances nutrient cycling in dryland farming systems. 

At the congress, I explained how this practice, developed through Kijani Mtaani, strengthens microbial activity, improves moisture retention and supports the long-term resilience of community gardens. 

Many young practitioners revealed that they are using similar low-cost biological inputs to regenerate soils while reducing dependence on synthetic alternatives. 

Zuhura Shaweji, a fellow GLF Restoration Steward from Tanzania, demonstrated how seaweed can be transformed into nourishing body oil, turning often overlooked resources into ecological and economic renewal. 

Through youth-led innovations with materials that are abundant and culturally familiar, restoration becomes technically grounded and socially meaningful. 

This creativity reflects a broader shift among young Africans, who are now blending scientific insight with local knowledge to design sustainable livelihoods rooted in their landscapes. It showed me that resilience is growing as youth view nature not as depleted ground but as a living partner for innovation. 

By blending innovation with rootedness, and science with soul, Africa’s youth are not just restoring land – they’re shaping the future.

Getting vulnerable for mental health

By Clarissa Chimeremeze Enyi, head of the Capacity Development Commission at the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA)

At the WCA6, I helped run a youth-led intergenerational networking session titled ‘Deep Roots, New Branches,’ co-organized by the International Union of Agroforestry (IUAF), the International Forestry Students Association (IFSA), the GLF and the Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL).

If we want to innovate, we first need to support ourselves and our communities of practice.

One of the most important things is to ensure mutual learning among stakeholders and translating complex research findings into accessible formats. To do this effectively, we must incorporate traditional ecological knowledge from local practitioners.

Among young Africans, there is a lot of passion for environmental work, but also many challenges in securing land tenure, accessing start-up capital and overcoming institutional ageism. Mentorship programs and dedicated funding streams for youth-led ventures are helping close this gap. 

We also need to address systemic inequalities that limit access to resources, education and decision-making power – and thus restoration and conservation efforts. 

Truly resilient ecological systems must be underpinned by equitable and intersectional social systems that also prioritize the mental health of those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

For many young Africans, engaging in the stewardship of our local environments offers a powerful antidote to disenfranchisement.

The deepest impact of our engagement as youth, however, transcends economic opportunity; it is profoundly personal. 

When we nurture the soil, plant indigenous trees and watch biodiversity return, we’re not just creating jobs or sequestering carbon. We’re actively reclaiming our future and defining our identity as stewards.