Ecopreneurs answer your questions on green business and our planet

Author: Sabrina Debrard, Intern, UNCCD G20 Global Land Initiative | May 14, 2026

Photo credit: UNCCD G20 GLI

Ecopreneurship. This new approach to business blends the traditional fervor of entrepreneurship with the pertinent issue of creating sustainable solutions for our planet. Opportunities abound as the demand for environmentally friendly practices increases. Some savvy young leaders have seen the potential here and shared observations from their own experiences with us.

Paula Medina Agromayor, co-founder and COO of Féro, and Carlos González, co-founder and CEO of PACCHAR, joined our Generation Restoration Dialogues webinar in April to discuss growing opportunities in ecopreneurship. The conversation offered practical insights into the challenges young business leaders face, strategies for attracting investment and ideas for growing a green business from the ground up.

Féro operates primarily in Senegal, building affordable bamboo greenhouses and cold storage systems using local, environmentally conscious materials. Féro’s model includes agroforests that restore the land around their greenhouses, strengthening farmers’ livelihoods and productivity.

PACCHAR is an Ecuadorian biochar company transforming agricultural waste into high-quality organic fertilisers. PACCHAR’s model helps revitalise degraded soils while supporting the livelihoods of rural farming communities.

Catch the replay of the webinar

The conversation didn’t stop there though — we followed up with both of our ecopreneurs after the session to get answers to some of our audience’s most pressing questions.

Here are some of Paula Medina Agromayor’s answers about Féro.

How was the process of creating Féro’s technology?

Through our research, we learned that most smallholders in Senegal were only farming during the three-month rainy season and that their productivity was very low. We also learned that land degradation was a serious challenge in Senegal. This led us to pursue a key question: How could we design a profitable farming system based on reforestation for smallholder farmers? Agroforestry was a perfect option, as it involves planting diverse trees with high economic value. However, trees take time to mature and generate significant income, so we had to combine it with something else.

We knew that the greenhouse industry is very profitable, so we thought: why not adapt this technology at a smaller scale for the Senegalese context? We wanted to use local materials, so we started conducting structural testing with bamboo and learned that it was the perfect material for our greenhouse. We then used Féro’s engineering background to finalize the design and create an affordable and sustainable model. How do greenhouses cool the climate inside them? Don’t they usually keep the inside climate warm?

How do greenhouses cool the climate inside them?

In Europe and other regions with cold winters, greenhouse systems need to increase temperatures to keep plants healthy. In other settings, the opposite is true: temperatures are so high that they must be reduced for plants to grow comfortably. This is the case in Senegal, where temperatures can reach up to 40°C, while the ideal temperature for crops such as tomatoes is between 24 and 28°C. We use a combination of mechanical and evaporative cooling to reduce the temperature.

Does Féro utilise smallholder farmer land to put up the structure?

Féro partners with smallholder farmers through a joint-venture model and a profit-sharing scheme. Smallholder farmers contribute land to the project, and Féro invests capital for the infrastructure. The annual profit is shared between smallholder farmers and Féro according to each party’s contribution to the total project cost. The 10-year partnership period before transfer of ownership also ensures that smallholder farmers have sufficient time and training to become fully autonomous in managing the farms.

In your view, what defines a truly successful green business today? What trends should aspiring ecopreneurs pay attention to right now? And what gives you hope about the future of sustainable business?

A truly successful green business is one that has a clear and structured plan to generate revenue while simultaneously having a positive impact. This impact can take many different forms, such as land restoration, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and water management. Some important trends to pay attention to are the solutions that scientists and experts identify as key to reversing climate change. More and more funding is also being directed toward private-sector companies focused on green innovations, which is very encouraging.

Carlos González also answered questions about PACCHAR

How is the demand for biochar? Do you recommend its use in any type and carbon content of soils?

The market is growing in Ecuador and globally, now that farmers understand the concept and it is backed by science publications with good agronomy results. Biochar can be used in any type of soil; however, it has better results in degraded soil.

What were the major challenges for your initiative?

Achieving credibility for my products and making the first sale. It took me two years of R&D to make the first sale. Now that business is growing, the challenge is to prevent others from taking it over. So investing in IP, lawyer advice, etc. is a good idea for scaling it up peacefully.

How can indigenous knowledge be better recognized in global innovation ecosystems?

Modernize indigenous knowledge with science: objectively prove that it has a positive impact. You can do this by partnering with universities or research institutions. Then recognition comes through a marketing strategy. This combination is a “purple cow” for global visibility.

The ecopreneurs came together to answer your general questions about green business

What types of financing mechanisms (grants, blended finance, impact investment) are most accessible and realistic for early-stage ecopreneurs in developing countries?

Medina Agromayor: In Féro’s case, we experienced challenges attracting impact investment before generating revenue. Grants have been a key element of our funding strategy. There are many funding opportunities throughout the year, but they are extremely competitive, so mastering the way you communicate your story is key.

Carlos González: Angel investors’ funding or equity investment. Definitely don’t go into debt until you have a sustained cashflow.

How can ecopreneurship models be designed to remain both scalable and inclusive, especially ensuring participation of marginalized and climate-vulnerable communities?

Medina Agromayor: It is important to develop an innovation that directly engages and benefits vulnerable communities. They are often the ones with the deepest knowledge of the territory and ancestral adaptation practices. They are strategic partners to work with. If your innovation creates value both for your company and for the communities you work with, it will scale organically.

González: Secure a revenue stream for both your company and your rural stakeholders. Be transparent in accountability and take care of your communities.

We hope this dialogue was insightful and left you with inspiration for leadership and change. Ecopreneurs like Medina and González show us that sustainable, profitable action is possible and immensely valuable, and that the world of business and positive, real-world environmental impact are not diametrically opposed.

Be sure to register for our upcoming webinar, “The Future of Food Systems,” on May 19, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM CET. In alignment with our upcoming COP17 agenda, we will discuss the growing need for sustainable food production and the solutions already taking shape in local communities on the ground.

Director's Message

The year 2024 was pivotal for the Global Land Initiative. Land degradation and restoration remained prominent on the global policy agenda throughout.

The UN Environmental Assembly, G7 Leaders’ Summit, G20 Environment and Climate Change Ministers’ meeting, and BRICS Leaders’ Summit addressed land degradation and committed to scaling up land restoration efforts.

The European Union passed a new Restoration Law mandating quantitative targets for land restoration. The UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD Conferences of the Parties (COPs), held during the last quarter of the year, reinforced land restoration as a crucial solution to combat land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.

Building on this favorable policy momentum, the Global Land Initiative continued to develop and deliver a robust program. In collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we completed a database on Global Restoration Commitments by countries under the UNCCD, UNCBD, UNFCCC and the Bonn Challenge.

Representing a significant increase in global commitments since 2021, the total global commitment now stands at 1.2 billion hectares, with 30 countries, including 11 G20 members, pledging to restore over 10 million hectares each.

The UNCCD, with financial support from the Global Land Initiative, published the first global restoration economy international report, titled, Investing in Land’s Future: Financial needs assessment for UNCCD. The report defines the private sector’s growing role in land restoration and its potential for creating green jobs.

The study outlines key recommendations to support the growth of the restoration economy, which has an associated market survey valued at $37 billion globally, growing at 8.2% annually and is projected to reach $70 billion by 2031. Together, these studies stressed the need for focused policy action to encourage private sector investment and engagement in the restoration economy.

Working with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the Global Land Initiative launched the first cohort of the “Global Ecopreneurs Program,” training 100 young entrepreneurs from restoration startups. These entrepreneurs received training on improving business plans and pitching to investors. We plan to scale this program regionally to reach 10,000 ecopreneurs by 2029.

Training remained a cornerstone of the Global Land Initiative, with programs on the restoration of mining areas, of urban lands, of lowland-based systems, of drylands and with biosaline agriculture. These trainings consistently attracted more applications than available slots. To accommodate this high demand and broader participation, we also conducted online webinars on these topics, in English, Arabic and French.

The first University Curriculum Course on Sustainable Agriculture for Land Restoration was launched this year. It reached over 400 university teachers, with over 100 trained on implementing the curriculum. A university module on urban land restoration is in its final stages.

Representatives from 25 countries attended the second Global Changemaker Academy for Parliamentarians held in Bonn. With the European Union Restoration Law’s passage, global best practices can now be discussed and adapted to national contexts.

The Global Land Initiative’s visibility surged with participation in the G20 Environment and Climate Change Working Group meetings in Brazil, the COPs of the UNCBD and UNCCD and 7 other international exhibitions. In December, the Initiative, in partnership with Germany’s Federal Museum of Arts and Sciences, opened the Save Land: United for Land Museum Exhibition, the first museum exhibition on land restoration, which will run until June 2025.

Online engagement grew, reaching over 35,000 newsletter subscribers and over 14,000 followers across social media platforms, and a global reach of nearly 400,000. The Global Photography Festival, which attracted 17,000 entries from 154 countries, further boosted visibility.

The Global Restoration Information Hub was launched in July 2024. It is a compilation of globally available data on land restoration from credible sources. The site provides information on global best practices, restoration commitments, best practice legislations, documentaries, restoration actors and other databases.

The Initiative issued a global call for communities and NGOs to submit their restoration projects for small grant support, receiving over 600 submissions from 100 countries. Forty-one projects from XX countries were selected for funding.

[Statement on faith, if the faith report is finalized]

The G20 Global Land Initiative Steering Committee was kept informed of developments through regular communication. It met in July and continues to provide guidance on program implementation. It received the work plan for 2025-26; an exciting period of action is ahead.

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