The African Forest Landscape Initiative (AFR100), in which countries across the continent have together pledged to bring more than 100 million hectares of land under restoration by 2030, recently received a major new bout of funding. Alongside the UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt in November (COP27), SouthBridge Investments and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) together announced a USD 2 billion blended finance mechanism to support the Initiative, while the Bezos Earth Fund pledged USD 50 million to aid the restoration of the the Greater Rusizi Basin and the Great Rift Valley in particular.
This influx of money can and will bring much progress toward AFR100’s ultimate goal, but in this GLF Live, we examined one affected aspect in particular: value chains. What is the overlap between landscape restoration and value chains? How will this new support for AFR100 affect Africa’s commodity industries and food supplies? Join us to hear from AFR100 expert Bernadette Arakwiye on these questions and more.
Bernadette Arakwiye manages the World Resources Institute’s contributions to the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100). In her previous roles at WRI, she supported restoration monitoring activities in African countries. Before joining WRI, Bernadette conducted environmental research in African landscapes, working as a Research Associate with Conservation International in the USA and as a Research Assistant with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in Rwanda. Bernadette has also supported WRI research projects in Rwanda on a consultancy basis between 2016 and 2020.
Bernadette has a Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University in Massachusetts; where she received the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship to research the dynamics, drivers and ecological outcomes of forest cover change in Western Rwanda. She received an MSc in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England and a BSc in Biology from the University of Rwanda.
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