Turning drylands into global carbon sinks

THE QUESTION

Can technology measure the carbon storage impact of regeneration efforts and link to global carbon markets?

---

LOCATION: Senegal and the Sahel 
SECTOR: Climate & Environment
TECH: Nature-based Solutions
TIMELINE: September 2023 - May 2025
PIONEER: Mana Farooghi
PARTNERS: Sand to Green, Boomitra

The Challenge

Drylands cover about 40% of the Earth’s land surface and support around 40% of the world’s population. They are very susceptible to desertification, land degradation and drought and their populations, agriculture and ecosystems are vulnerable to climate change and variability. Desertification in drylands has already caused historic carbon loss into the atmosphere. As dryland soils across the world have been degraded, much of this soil is currently very far from saturated with carbon and their potential to sequester carbon is very high. 

Currently, most efforts to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere to mitigate the effects of climate change focus on reforestation in mesic and humid climates as carbon sequestration in drylands is not as straightforward as planting a tree in a tropical forest. 

Methodologies and tools, such as remote sensing, developed in other ecosystems or for global application are not fit for purpose in drylands and lead to drylands being underrepresented in ecosystem based mitigation efforts.

In the Sahel, soil is a survival issue. People are 80% dependent on smallholder farming or food and often this agriculture, when combined with grazing, leads to depleted land. When you lose the ability to grow food in a certain plot of land it can lead to a plethora of climate, agriculture, health, and conflict challenges. 

The Idea

This pilot aims to develop tools for measuring the carbon storage impact of regeneration efforts in the Sahel and linking these to global carbon markets. Currently, much of the technology around regenerative agriculture is emerging from the Global North and is not taking drylands into account. Tailoring technology solutions to drylands, as this pilot aims to do, would help ensure that these technologies are suited to these contexts, are locally led, and take into account local specificities, cultures, traditional knowledge and social systems.

What Happened

In the first phase of the Drylands pilot, the FT Hub explored whether dryland restoration in the Sahel could realistically attract carbon finance. The work started in the voluntary carbon market, looking at how soil carbon could be measured and credited, before shifting to the compliance market with Boomitra to examine whether satellite and AI-based approaches could support larger-scale credit generation. The pilot showed that there is technical promise, but it also made clear that turning soil carbon gains into recognised, tradable credits depends heavily on national systems, including accounting rules, approvals, and institutional capacity.

Having concluded the pilot, a follow-on phase has been awarded in order to focus on building the policy and institutional pathways that would allow soil carbon projects to participate in compliance carbon markets. Between January and March 2026, Boomitra will review Senegal’s existing policies, carbon accounting arrangements, registry processes, and institutional roles to understand what is already in place and where gaps remain. In parallel, we will hold structured discussions with relevant ministries, farmer and pastoralist organisations, and market actors to test appetite, clarify roles, and explore how soil carbon credits could be exported under mechanisms such as Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The result will be a practical roadmap and gap analysis setting out what Senegal would need to put in place for soil carbon projects to access compliance markets. This will create a realistic pathway for carbon finance to reach rural communities while contributing to national climate goals.

---