Climate Pressures Facing Togo
Togo’s people, land, and ecosystems are under urgent and mounting pressure from climate extremes and environmental decline. More than half the population lives in rural areas, and nearly one in three depends on rain-fed farming.
Breaking Rhythms of Rain and Soil Fertility
Survival is tied to the rhythms of rain and soil fertility, yet those rhythms are breaking down at a visible pace. Since 1991, average surface temperatures have risen by up to 0.34°C per decade. In the northern savannahs, projections show a 1.4°C increase by the 2040s.
Rising Floods, Droughts, and Food Insecurity
Floods and droughts now dictate the planting calendar. At least fifteen major floods have struck since 1971, while dry spells wipe out harvests before the next rains arrive. In 2023 alone, half a million people, a staggering 8% of the country, fell into severe food insecurity. For rural households, that number often rises above one-third when climate shocks hit. Women carry the biggest burden, owning less than 10% of land while performing five times more unpaid labor than men.
Land and Ecosystem Degradation
The land is crumbling beneath them. Forests vanish at nearly 3% each year, leaving less than a quarter of the country forested. Fertile topsoil is stripped away by wind and water. In the Plateaux and Kara regions, nutrients are so depleted that crop yields collapse even with increased fertilizer. Coastal villages along Togo’s 56 kilometers of shoreline are watching the ocean take their homes and fields, and economists warn that sea-level rise could shrink national income by 12% per capita by mid-century. Less than a tenth of farmland is irrigated, leaving over 70% of smallholders entirely at the mercy of erratic rainfall. These pressures are unraveling the local ecosystems, undermining livelihoods, and pushing underserved communities to the edge.
Introducing the Togo Bamboo Project
At The Grandparents Fund for Climate Restoration, we have developed a large and ambitious Togo Bamboo Project to change that story. Bamboo grows fast, sends roots deep into the soil, restores water balance, and reduces erosion. It captures up to 50 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare each year in the right conditions, outperforming most tree species. Studies in comparable ecosystems show that highland bamboo can store more than 52 megagrams of carbon per hectare in dry biomass, which is a clear demonstration of its potential as a carbon sink. Unlike trees that require decades before harvest, bamboo renews itself year after year, creating a steady income without clearing land.
Furthermore, it restores ecosystems while supporting new rural economies built on construction materials, weaving, biochar, renewable energy, durable furniture, and verified carbon credits.
Why bamboo? Read If OIF is the “Iron Bullet” – Do We Need a Plan B?
Project Scope and Community Participation
Our project will establish Togo’s largest bamboo restoration zones, with over 10,000 hectares to be restored with the full participation of communities and civil society partners. Furthermore, we will empower local cooperatives and farmers to manage planting and harvesting, while we will empower women and young people with extensive training, leadership, and local governance. The project will also develop market value chains that allow households to earn a living from bamboo products while feeding verified carbon credits into global markets. The generated finance will flow directly back into land stewardship and community development.
Step-by-Step Implementation Plan
We have a clearly outlined step-by-step project plan. In the first phase, we will obtain land access validation and security across over 12 municipalities in the Savanes region, covering 10,000 hectares of degraded and underutilized land. This process is already in progress, beginning with a successful scoping visit in August 2025 (see this official news article and the official media report from Togo below).
Phase One: Land Access and Feasibility Studies
During this visit, we kicked it off with community consultations, started our feasibility study, and conducted initial environmental and operational assessments to protect ecological health and gain social support.
Nurseries, Planting, and Infrastructure Development
We will establish nurseries in the first year of the project to propagate millions of bamboo seedlings, while trained local propagation teams will carry out planting and maintenance. Infrastructure development will include access roads, water harvesting and irrigation systems, and processing units for biochar and bamboo products. We will begin the carbon credit certification in parallel, with international MRV standards applied to track sequestration.
Carbon Credit Certification, MRV Systems & SPS-compliant
In later phases, value-addition facilities will support renewable energy generation, biochar production, and the creation of SPS-compliant (SPS = Sanitary and Phytosanitary) bamboo-based materials and furniture for local and export markets. These steps will create thousands of jobs, build small businesses, and provide direct training to farmers, especially women and young people, in sustainable cultivation and governance.
Economic Potential and Revenue Streams
The economic potential is equally compelling. Conservative estimates suggest the project could earn over $100 million annually from four main revenue sources: bamboo biomass & products, biochar, renewable energy, and high-value carbon credits. The environmental impact will be transformative.
Environmental Impact and Climate Benefits
Over its lifespan, the project will sequester millions of tons of CO₂, restore biodiversity across degraded savannah ecosystems, and re-establish natural water cycles.
Circular Economy and Biochar Solutions
The introduction of biochar into the soil will improve fertility, reduce water demand by up to 50%, and maximize climate resilience. A circular economy model ensures that bamboo byproducts are converted into renewable electricity and soil-improving biochar, eliminating waste and multiplying climate benefits.
Replicability and Technology Transfer
Our bamboo project is both replicable and highly scalable. We plan to implement advanced Israeli AgTech solutions for irrigation, soil monitoring, and precision farming to bring “BambooTech” to Africa. This technology transfer will ensure that the knowledge, tools, and innovations created in Togo can be adapted and duplicated in other African countries experiencing similar degradation issues.
Alignment with Togo’s Climate Commitments
This project is fully aligned with Togo’s climate commitments. The government has pledged to restore 43,000 hectares by 2025 and to plant one billion trees by 2030, yet lacks the capacity and investment to achieve these targets. The Togo Bamboo Project will help deliver these goals with scalable, cost-effective solutions.
Immediate and Long-Term Results
The results will be felt immediately and build over time. Restored land will stabilize food production, reduce disaster risks from floods and erosion, and increase water availability for farming. Households will gain new income streams from bamboo-based businesses, easing dependence on subsistence agriculture.
Empowering Women and Young People
Women and young people will be empowered to gain access to land, training, and leadership roles, shifting local power structures toward greater equity. Share of the profits will be shared with local communities and reinvested to accelerate impact.
Toward a New Climate Economy for Africa
The Togo Bamboo Project unites ecological restoration, climate-smart agriculture, carbon sequestration, and inclusive sustainable rural development. It is a project that can scale at pace, and can offer Togo a pathway out of vulnerability and into resilience, while building a model for how degraded and underutilized land across Africa can become the backbone of a new climate economy.