.png){kind=small}
Empowering farmers and capturing carbon
The Agricentric Carbon Initiative (“ACI”) is a unique grouped project implemented by Regenerative Carbon Alliance Ltd (“RCA”), which was founded to empower smallholder farmers in Kenya by partnering with farmer cooperatives (“co-ops”) to scale regenerative agriculture. The Project is developed under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard ("VCS) and utilizes the VM0042 v2.2 (Improved Agricultural Land Management) methodology. ACI aims to generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and removals (“ERRs”) through the adoption and maintenance of improved cropland management practices by participating
smallholder farmers.
The project is located in western Kenya and covers approximately 39,854 hectares across five co-ops, including Mumberes, Eor e Maa, Lanyuak, Kipsigis, and Kabianga, spanning parts of Kericho, Bomet, Baringo, and Narok counties. Co-ops are the backbone of Kenyan agriculture, providing an institutional structure for aggregating smallholder participation and supporting implementation through extension services, training, market linkages, and collective access to credit. ACI's vision is to scale this model across Kenya, the East African region, and the African continent.
Agricentric is a farmer-driven and community focused enterprise
The ACI project is built on partnerships with farmer cooperatives. Co-ops are the backbone of Kenyan agriculture, providing an institutional structure for aggregating smallholder participation and supporting implementation through extension services, training, market linkages, and collective access to credit. Since its independence in 1963, this model has facilitated the commercialization of smallholder agriculture and remains a core feature of Kenya’s rural economy, with over 25,984 registered in the country. Co-ops help to augment the ACI's collaboration with thousands of individual smallholder farmers while ensuring the seamless implementation of regenerative practices, collection of monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) data, and routine engagement with all stakeholders.
ACI's focus areas
Regenerative Farming Practices
01
Crop residue management
Retaining residues on the soil surface increases organic matter inputs, enhances microbial activity, and reduces CO₂ and N₂O emissions associated with open burning. Surface residues also protect against erosion and improve moisture retention.
02
Conservation tillage
Minimizing soil disturbance helps maintain aggregate stability, reduces oxidation of soil organic matter, and lowers fuel-related emissions. Appropriate tillage depth and frequency should be tailored to each farm and crop system, with documentation to ensure consistent implementation.
03
Reducing synthetic fertilizer use
Incorporating compost, manure, or other organic amendments increases organic carbon inputs, improves soil structure, and can reduce nitrous oxide emissions when managed properly. Blended nutrient management plans can optimize productivity while enhancing SOC.
Meet our team
Agricentric Leadership
Barclay Paul Okari, Co-founder & CEO
Barclay Paul Okari is a Kenyan serial entrepreneur and Founder of FinAccess, a startup that builds tools to help farmers establish financial identities by
digitizing Savings and Credit Unions and Producer Cooperatives. Its software powers farmer cooperatives across Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Barclay
previously founded Impact Africa Industries, a 10-year-old company that manufactures affordable sanitary care products for women and children at the
bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. That company currently distributes within East Africa. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a 2013
Anzisha Prize winner - the African Oscars for young entrepreneurs. A Spark Fellow, he was named one of the social entrepreneurs to watch (Under 35
CEO), a Remarkable25 Under 25 Young African Entrepreneur, and thrice one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 (2014, 2015 & 2016) entrepreneurs in Africa, Top 40
under 40 men in Kenya by the Business Daily, 7 inspiring entrepreneurs to watch globally 2015 by the United Nations Foundation and MTV Voices 20
somethings changing the world. He has a bachelor's degree in commerce with a major in finance from the University of Nairobi.
Nelly Komoi, Operations Lead
Nelly Komoi is a results-driven growth and partnerships professional with a strong track record in scaling cooperative, fintech, and community-driven initiatives. With over 7 years of experience, she has led digital transformation, market expansion, and stakeholder engagement strategies that have advanced Kenya’s cooperative ecosystem. At FinAccess Ltd, she developed and executed go-to-market strategies that achieved 25% growth in new business leads and 95% client retention, while driving adoption of digital financial tools among cooperatives. Nelly also secured the first cooperative clients for Grobox, a data visibility platform, within a month of its launch. Previously, she helped establish the Narok Cooperative Education Centre in partnership with a German-Kenyan NGO and coordinated large-scale sector events reaching over 2,000+ participants. A graduate of The Co-operative University of Kenya, Nelly combines financial acumen, leadership, and community insight to drive inclusive, technology-enabled growth for cooperatives and social enterprises.
Dale Mathias, Co-founder
Dale Mathias has had a 25+ year career in finance and private investments, including as a Vice President of two Lazard Frères private equity funds. Before that, she served as an Associate Dean at Columbia Business School. Currently, she is an investor in early-stage technology businesses in both the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa. Through Mathias Nature, she helps to incubate young companies and other entities with nature-positive strategies. Dale was instrumental in designing and championing legislation passed by Congress in 2018 to establish the first U.S. International Development Bank Corporation (DFC) (S.2463 – BUILD Act). Previously, for ten years, on a “pro bono” basis, she played a leadership role in the development and implementation of innovative private sector investment initiatives at USAID, including the formation of its Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise, and the launch of the Presidential Initiative “Power Africa,” which dramatically increased the accessibility of power in sub-Saharan Africa. She also served as chairperson of USAID’s outside private sector advisory board, which helped the Agency to pioneer innovative methods of using private investment to achieve development objectives, some of which were subsequently adopted by development agencies around the world. Dale is a graduate of Harvard College and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Amod Daherkar, Co-founder
Amod Daherkar is a co-founder and CEO of Gazelle Ecosolutions, pioneered Botswana’s first nature-based carbon project, and helped spearhead the application of carbon accounting methodologies for the Kalahari, opening the path for carbon markets to begin developing in Botswana. Honored at the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge (#1 in 2022), the SVG Climate Smart Agriculture Challenge (#1 in 2023), and shortlisted for Forbes 30 under 30 for climate impact, advocacy, and contributions to the climate-tech startup community. Track record of building venture-backed companies (from VR to AI and climate) and proven record of managing large engineering teams building out complex full-stack products for carbon markets covering digital methodologies, AI document generation tools, and remote-sensing platforms to enhance MRV. Amod holds a B.B.A in Management (McCombs School of Business) and B.A. History (University of Texas at Austin).