With backing from the UK and Norway, the Nature-First Innovation Lab (NFIL) will help local enterprises Acacia EPZ and ForestFoods get ready to raise investment
Nairobi, Kenya, 28 October 2026 – A Kenyan exporter of conflict-free gum arabic and a farm group using a Brazilian method of agroforestry around Limuru, Naivasha and Naro Moru, are among five African enterprises selected for the first cohort of the Nature-First Innovation Lab (NFIL).
The 12-month accelerator, run by FSD Africa with Systemiq and the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA) and backed by UK International Development and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), will help the five get ready to raise investment, with a collective fundraising target of around USD 10 million.
The two Kenyan enterprises are:
- Acacia EPZ, founded in 2015 by Sam Ombogo Nyamboga, exports gum arabic, which is used in soft drinks, sweets and medicines. Its collectors, more than 70% of them women, depend on healthy trees for their income. With war cutting Sudan’s supply, Acacia offers buyers a traceable, conflict-free source. Its revenues have grown 56% in two years.
- ForestFoods is one of the few enterprises in East Africa showing that syntropic agroforestry, growing trees, crops and livestock together so the land regenerates, can make money. It farms near Limuru, Naivasha and Naro Moru, and is developing a new site at Shimba Hills.
They have been selected by NFIL alongside three other African enterprises: Forested, which works with smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to supply regenerative honey, beeswax, shea butter, and oils to international beauty brands; NovFeed (Tanzania), which turns organic waste into fish feed and fertiliser; and Savanna Agri Chains (Ghana), which sources and exports shea butter and baobab with more than 1,000 women harvesters across 22 districts of Northern Ghana. What links all five is that their revenue depends on maintaining or restoring healthy land, forests and soils.
An estimated 62% of Africa’s GDP is dependent on nature, according to research by FSD Africa and McKinsey Sustainability. Yet enterprises that build the protection and restoration of nature into their business model often struggle to raise the funding they need to grow.
NFIL aims to help fill this gap according to Dorothy Maseke, Head of the ANCA Secretariat and Lead, Nature Finance and TNFD at FSD Africa.
She said: “A growing number of African enterprises reach technical feasibility and then stall because revenues aren’t sufficiently anchored, governance is not investment-grade, and documentation is incomplete. It’s that gap between what grants and philanthropy will fund and where commercial capital begins that NFIL is designed to fill. These five enterprises are already established and generating revenue. What they need now is support to get investment-ready.”
Each enterprise will receive grants, help with financial planning, governance and measuring its impact on nature, along with introductions to investors. NFIL does not take equity. Its role is to bring enterprises to the point where investors can make a decision.
The first cohort focuses on regenerative supply chains. Regenerating the world’s 30 most valuable landscapes is a USD 310 billion opportunity for commercial investors, according to one recent estimate (BCG, 2025).
Commenting on its selection by NFIL, Sam Ombogo Nyamboga, Founder and CEO of Acacia EPZ, said: “Being selected for the Nature-First Innovation Lab is a real milestone for us. It recognises what we’ve believed since day one: that keeping Kenya’s acacia woodlands standing and building genuine incomes for the families who harvest from them are the same task, not competing ones. The world needs a source of gum arabic it can trust, one that isn’t tied to conflict, and that is exactly what we are building.”
Sven Verwiel, Co-Founder and CEO of ForestFoods, said: “Our ambition is to show that producing good food, restoring landscapes and creating meaningful livelihoods can go hand in hand with building a commercially successful business. As we expand to Shimba Hills, NFIL will help us strengthen the business model that connects our farms and growers with processing, training and reliable markets. We hope the programme will unlock the investment and partnerships we need to grow, working with people who share our long-term vision for regenerative food systems.”
About the Nature First Innovation Lab (NFIL)
NFIL is funded by UK International Development (FCDO), the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). It is the companion accelerator to the Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE), FSD Africa’s programme for nature projects where carbon revenues are the main basis for investment. The two programmes share one goal, bringing more investment into Africa’s nature-positive economy, but they test different routes. NFIL backs enterprises that investors can fund on the strength of their products, customers and growth, with nature outcomes built into how they make money. Carbon finance may play a part, but it is not the basis of the investment case. For more information, visit: https://fsdafrica.org/the-nature-first-innovation-lab/
About the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA)
The African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA) is the continent’s leading platform for nature-positive finance. Established by FSD Africa, ANCA brings together more than 150 member institutions – representing over GBP 1 trillion in net assets across 45 countries – that are reshaping how finance integrates nature into policy and investment decisions. Find out more at: https://africannaturalcapitalalliance.com
About Systemiq
Systemiq is a systems change company that works with businesses, policymakers, investors and civil society organisations to reimagine and reshape the systems that sit at the heart of society – energy, nature and food, materials, built-environment, and finance – to accelerate the shift to a more sustainable and inclusive economy. Founded in 2016, Systemiq is a certified B Corp, and has offices in Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Kenya, the Netherlands and the UK. Find out more at www.systemiq.earth or via LinkedIn.
About FSD Africa
FSD Africa is a specialist development agency making finance work for Africa’s future. We work with governments, regulators, and financial institutions across 30 countries to strengthen markets, shape policy, and mobilise capital into opportunities supporting growth, climate resilience, the clean energy transition, and nature-positive development. Supported by the UK Government alongside philanthropic and development partners, we also deploy catalytic capital through our investment arm, FSD Africa Investments. For more information, please visit: https://www.fsdafrica.org
