Help Nigerian Smallholders Earn from Carbon Credits

Agroforestry, intercropping, and reduced-tillage farming — practised by millions of Nigerian smallholders for food and soil reasons — sequester carbon. The global voluntary carbon market is worth over $2 billion annually and would pay for this sequestration. But accessing carbon credits requires land documentation, MRV (measurement, reporting, verification) infrastructure, and aggregation of small plots that individual farmers cannot provide. The result: the carbon stays in the ground and the farmers stay poor. Your challenge is to design a smallholder carbon credit aggregation and issuance platform that enables Nigerian farmers with plots of 0.5 to 5 hectares to earn verified carbon credits. It must handle MRV using remote sensing and on-farm data collection, aggregate credits from at least 1,000 farmers per project, and distribute payments in naira via mobile money. Submit a platform design document (max 12 pages) including: the MRV methodology, land documentation approach for farmers without title, aggregation mechanics, credit standard compliance strategy (VCS, Gold Standard, or equivalent), payment model, and a plan to enrol 5,000 farmers in year one. Judging criteria: 35% MRV credibility and standards compliance, 30% farmer accessibility without land title, 20% payment model, 15% enrolment plan.