Eighty per cent of Africa’s arable soils are degraded, as are 70% of the continent’s freshwater ecosystems, with 40% of African countries suffering declines in crop yields ranging from 20% to 80%, resulting in an about 60% increase in input costs. These figures were highlighted by EcoRestore Africa co-founder and CEO Chloe Cormack at the 2026 Africa Green Economy Summit, held at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town. The result of these developments is that the continent faces an environmental, economic and social crisis which, while initially affecting farmers, will come to affect everyone.

Use of conventional fertilisers is increasingly expensive (up by some 60% since 2021), becoming unaffordable for many small-scale farmers. A potential affordable alternative is provided by biochar (which is created from organic waste), the use of which had been observed to improve soil fertility, water-retaining capacity and crop yields in Africa by 40%, while reducing the need for artificial fertiliser by 50% to 80%, she pointed out. On top of this, biochar is a stable carbon sink. There are already multimillion-dollar investments in biochar, but the material currently has a very low adoption rate of only about 2%.

The complication with biochar is that, on its own, it can often be counterproductive, if it hads not been matched with the soils into which it is to be introduced. Soils, and the nourishing bacteria and other microbes that they contain, variy from area to area. The biochar has to be optimised for the soil in which it is to be used, to ensure maximum effectiveness with no downside.

That is where EcoRestore Africa came in. It does not produce biochar, but it optimises it. The company analyses soil samples from the location where the biochar is to be used, identifies their natural nutrient producing microbes and then produces multiculture “inoculants” using these microbes. These localised inoculants are then added to the biochar, to make it fully effective when it is deployed in that area.

“We collaborate with nature,” she summed up. The company has become the first in the world to create a biochar matchmaking map.  

With a footprint in both South Africa and Kenya, the company is in the pilot programme and prototype stage. Prototype test results have seen a 200% to 400% increase in biomass in crop yields, with crops developing three to four times faster. Cormack expects that they will achieve full regulatory approval (they are already working with the regulator) and start early market operations during the second half of this year. The company already has a two-year commercial agreement with Klein Constantia winery.

EcoRestore Africa is starting with a focus on the South African market, and then expanding into Kenya in the short term. The ultimate target wis the pan-African regenerative agriculture sector, a market with a total value of $8.8-billion. To complete validation and reach commercial scale, the company is seeking funding of $2.4-million for the next 24 months.

“Our product is designed to fill a gap that needs filling,” she pointed out. “We did more than a hundred stakeholder interviews before we started. Our product is already proven in the field, and it is designed to have a measurable impact.”