Haut-Sassandra Agroforest

Inside the project

Côte d'Ivoire has lost most of its forest cover, which now stands at around 9.2% of the national territory after decades of cocoa-driven deforestation. The Haut-Sassandra reserve, once a protected forest, was extensively cleared and settled. The project aims to restore degraded areas and conserve remaining biodiversity across about 70,000 hectares through sustainable agroforestry planning and management.

Work has been under way since January 2022, combining reforestation and agroforestry with a zero-deforestation agriculture model designed to generate income for local communities while rebuilding tree cover. aDryada provides the carbon-project development and financing; AGRO-MAP runs the agroforestry on the ground.

As with aDryada's other projects, revenue is designed to come only from carbon-removal credits over long-term land commitments, with certification pursued under a recognised standard during the development phase.

Objectives

• Rehabilitate degraded land across the Haut-Sassandra reserve
• Combine reforestation with zero-deforestation agroforestry
• Generate income for local farming communities
• Conserve remaining biodiversity in a near-deforested landscape
• Develop certified carbon-removal credits under a recognised standard

Approach

• The project applies sustainable agroforestry planning across the reserve, restoring degraded blocks while integrating tree crops with food production so that reforestation and rural livelihoods reinforce each other.
• aDryada structures the work as a long-horizon carbon-removal project: securing land commitments, running feasibility and design, and initiating certification during development, with revenue tied to verified removals rather than timber harvesting.