Nigeria’s ambition to position itself as a serious player in the global carbon market is unmistakable. The Climate Change Act, the Carbon Market Activation Plan, and the establishment of a national carbon registry all signal a strong national commitment to reducing emissions and participating in both domestic and international carbon trading. These frameworks also emphasise an important principle, that carbon finance should benefit ordinary Nigerians, particularly the millions of smallholder farmers whose land-use practices have the potential to sequester significant amounts of carbon. Yet, despite these bold policy moves, the tangible benefits for rural farmers remain elusive. The gap between policy design and on-the-ground implementation is wide, and closing it will require confronting persistent institutional, technical, and trust-related challenges.
To better understand this gap, we spoke to Emmanuel Orjichukwu, Lead Agronomist at Tourba and a climate-smart agriculture specialist who has worked with over 10,000 farmers across Nigeria. Drawing from his extensive field experience, Emmanuel shared how the current frameworks are perceived on the ground, where the process breaks down, and what practical steps could help bridge the divide between policy intent and farmer benefit. His perspective reveals that while the government has created the right policy scaffolding, the operational systems to reach the grassroots are still underdeveloped.
The Communication and Awareness Gap
Emmanuel is clear that the first and perhaps most significant barrier lies in communication. Carbon farming is a novel and abstract concept for many Nigerian farmers, most of whom are more familiar with maize or yam farming than with the idea of farming carbon. “If somebody who is assumed to be literate doesn’t even assimilate it at first instance,” he notes, “how much more a farmer who has never heard the term?”
This complexity is compounded when extension agents, the intermediaries responsible for passing on technical knowledge, do not fully understand carbon markets themselves. When the message is unclear at this stage, it trickles down as confusion, leading to poor adoption of practices and ultimately undermining project performance. For Emmanuel, demystifying carbon farming through local languages, relatable analogies, and practical demonstrations is a non-negotiable step in closing the policy-to-practice gap.
Reaching the Right Farmers
A second challenge is ensuring that the right farmers are engaged. Accessing genuine, active producers, rather than “political farmers” who exist only on paper, is a persistent difficulty. Nigeria’s vast geography and dispersed rural settlements mean that even verified farmers can be hard to reach.
Here, Emmanuel highlights the value of government collaboration. Tourba partners with state ministries of agriculture to tap into Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) and their extension officers, as well as to identify communities best suited for its focal crops. The presence of government officials at roadshows and farmer workshops adds credibility to the message and encourages buy-in. Still, Emmanuel stresses that farmer databases must be cleaned, digitised, and regularly updated to ensure support reaches the people actually working the land.
The MRV Challenge
Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) is central to carbon market participation but remains a major hurdle for rural Nigeria. High-cost measurement tools are beyond the reach of most community-based projects. To navigate this, Tourba collects comprehensive baseline datasets, GPS mapping, cropping histories, and soil analysis, offline in communities with poor connectivity, then uploads them where internet access is available. Third-party validators later compare this baseline to new measurements taken after several years of regenerative practices to determine actual carbon gains.
“The better the information you have,” Emmanuel explains, “the better your price and the better what the farmers get to enjoy at the end of the day.” In this sense, high-quality, reliable data is not just a technical requirement—it is the farmers’ ticket to fair and meaningful returns.
Finance Without Debt
Financial structure can make or break smallholder participation. In Nigeria, where most farmers operate with minimal margins, taking on debt to join a carbon project is a risk few are willing to take. Tourba’s solution is to eliminate upfront costs entirely. Farmers receive free training, demonstration plots, and technical guidance tailored to their existing resources. Inputs for demonstration plots are provided without charge, and no loans are taken that could later erode carbon credit earnings.
This approach has reduced risk and increased participation, though it requires project developers to shoulder the initial costs and wait several years for returns. It also reflects an understanding of farmers’ price-consciousness and risk aversion, two realities that must be factored into any practical implementation model.
Building and Maintaining Trust
Trust remains the decisive factor in whether carbon projects succeed in rural Nigeria. Emmanuel points out that while farmers are open to new opportunities, they expect promises to be kept. Past experiences with both successful and failed initiatives shape their willingness to participate.
Transparency is key: farmers must clearly understand revenue-sharing formulas, grievance redress mechanisms, and the voluntary nature of their involvement. Certifiers and auditors check for this awareness, making it both a moral and compliance imperative. “There is so much excitement and curiosity about carbon farming,” Emmanuel says. “They just want to see how it ends.”
Government oversight reinforces trust. Ministries request progress reports, attend public engagements, and step in to address challenges. But Emmanuel sees scope for more proactive involvement, such as providing economic tree seedlings for agroforestry, improving rural internet infrastructure for data collection, and ensuring the Climate Change Act’s provisions are actively applied at the community level.
How FSSS and Donors Can Help Bridge the Gap
The Foundation for Sustainable Smallholder Solutions (FSSS), together with development partners and donors, can play a catalytic role in turning Nigeria’s carbon-market promise into measurable benefits for smallholders. Practical steps include:
- Farmer Education Campaigns: Fund and coordinate large-scale, multilingual campaigns using community radio, demonstration farms, and farmer field schools to make carbon markets accessible and relatable.
- Capacity-Building for Extension Agents: Provide intensive training for both public and private extension officers to ensure accurate, confident delivery of carbon farming messages.
- MRV Innovation Grants: Support the development of low-cost, farmer-friendly MRV tools, such as mobile-based soil testing kits and community-led data collection systems.
- Verified Farmer Database Projects: Partner with state ministries to clean, digitise, and continuously update farmer registries, targeting real producers and eliminating ghost entries.
- Blended-Finance Support: Offer grants or credit guarantees to reduce developers’ early-stage costs, enabling them to onboard more farmers without creating debt burdens.
- Trust-Building Mechanisms: Co-create transparent benefit-sharing agreements, accessible grievance systems, and regular public progress updates at the community level.
By combining strong policy frameworks with targeted grassroots action, FSSS, donors, and government can jointly bridge the gap between Nigeria’s carbon-market ambitions and the lived realities of its farmers. This approach promises not just climate gains, but tangible income, healthier soils, and greater resilience for smallholder households.
As Emmanuel sums it up: “It’s a big deal to see that as farmers get these carbon credits, they are not selling harvest, they are not selling anything, just by doing these practices they earn extra income, and their yields improve year after year. I’m optimistic. The next two to three years will show just how much this can change lives.”