Biochar: Biomass Charcoal for Soil improvement

Biochar, a powerfully circular way to fight climate change

Biochar technology is a form of charcoal. It is made through a process called pyrolysis which involves burning of biomass in an oven with little or no oxygen. What you get out of it is solid material which then is added into soil. Under the right circumstances, biochar provides a unique opportunity to sequester carbon and improve soil quality by using locally sourced resources, and even a single application can provide benefits for years.

This technology is validated.

8•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 7/9

Project adoption3

Technology integrated in the Decarbonizing Rice, ERAVCDP, and Regenerative agri projects.

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
Decarbonizing Rice Improving Rice Productivity by Decarbonizing Cultivation For 12,000 Hectares of Irrigated Land in Benin Republic	Benin	Direct: 500,000	900.000 2023–2026	12,000 farmers & 12,000ha targeted 96 demonstration plots established 10 field days organized 10 Master's students trained
ERAVCDP Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	Angola	Direct: 1,200,000 Indirect: 1,000,000	211.4 million 2026–2031	2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated 400 km rural roads constructed 9 markets and warehouses established 360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed
Regenerative agri Multinational - Evidence-based regenerative agriculture to address climate change in Africa	Nigeria Ethiopia	Direct: 200,000 Indirect: 500,000	975,000 2023 - 2026	200,000 farmers targeted 40–60% increase productivity products targeted 30% improvement in livelihoods targeted 20 regenerative conducted per country

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

Decarbonizing Rice
Improving Rice Productivity by Decarbonizing Cultivation For 12,000 Hectares of Irrigated Land in Benin Republic

Benin

Direct: 500,000

900.000

2023–2026

12,000 farmers & 12,000ha targeted
96 demonstration plots established
10 field days organized
10 Master's students trained

ERAVCDP
Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project

Angola

Direct: 1,200,000
Indirect: 1,000,000

211.4 million

2026–2031

2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated
400 km rural roads constructed
9 markets and warehouses established
360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed

Regenerative agri
Multinational - Evidence-based regenerative agriculture to address climate change in Africa

Nigeria
Ethiopia

Direct: 200,000
Indirect: 500,000

975,000

2023 - 2026

200,000 farmers targeted
40–60% increase productivity products targeted
30% improvement in livelihoods targeted
20 regenerative conducted per country

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive high

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Degraded Soil Health: Poor soil fertility, erosion and nutrient leaching reduce the capacity of soils to retain nutrients and water and sustain agricultural production.
Low Crop Productivity: Degraded soil conditions and nutrient losses contribute to low crop yields and reduced agricultural productivity.
Ineffective Agricultural Waste Management: Agricultural residues are insufficiently transformed into productive resources, limiting opportunities for waste valorization and circular agriculture.
Environmentally Harmful Agricultural Practices: Dependence on polluting fertilizers and unsustainable land-use practices contributes to environmental degradation.
Limited Climate Change Mitigation: Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural practices remain a challenge, while opportunities to increase carbon storage within agricultural systems are underutilized.

Solution

Soil Health Restoration: Biochar improves soil fertility, organic carbon, nutrient retention, water-holding capacity and beneficial soil microbial activity.
Improved Crop Productivity: Restored soil functions and reduced nutrient losses support increased crop yields and more productive farming systems.
Agricultural Waste Valorization: Agricultural residues can be transformed into biochar, creating a productive soil amendment while reducing the need to burn crop residues.
More Efficient Input Use: Improved nutrient retention and reduced leaching can lower fertilizer requirements and support more efficient use of agricultural inputs.
Carbon Sequestration and Climate Mitigation: Biochar stores carbon in a long-lasting form and provides a pathway for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while improving agricultural soils.

Key points to design your program

Biomass Charcoal for Soil Improvement (Biochar) improves soil fertility, water retention, nutrient-use efficiency, and carbon sequestration through the conversion of agricultural biomass into a stable soil amendment. The technology can be integrated into soil health, climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, land restoration, and carbon finance programs. Its adoption contributes to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess soil degradation levels, biomass availability, fertilizer-use efficiency, erosion risks, and crop production constraints in target areas.
Facilitate access to biochar production equipment, biomass feedstocks, composting materials, and soil testing services adapted to local farming systems.
Support training for farmers, cooperatives, extension agents, women’s groups, and youth agripreneurs on biochar production, safe handling, soil application methods, compost activation, and sustainable land management practices.
Invest in biochar production units, demonstration plots, extension services, soil analysis activities, and awareness campaigns to support adoption.
Promote the use of biochar combined with compost or organic manure to improve soil fertility, water retention, nutrient efficiency, and crop productivity.
Support the participation of women and youth in biochar production, biomass processing, carbon-smart agriculture, and green enterprise development.
Establish partnerships with Sasakawa Africa Association research institutions, extension services, farmer organizations, environmental agencies, carbon market initiatives, and private sector actors to support scaling and sustainability.
Track key indicators such as soil organic matter, crop yields, fertilizer-use efficiency, carbon sequestered, land restored, farmer incomes, and adoption rates.

5—10 Tones

Recommended Biochar quantity for 1 hectare

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 7 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
Decarbonizing Rice Improving Rice Productivity by Decarbonizing Cultivation For 12,000 Hectares of Irrigated Land in Benin Republic	Benin	Direct: 500,000	900.000 2023–2026	12,000 farmers & 12,000ha targeted 96 demonstration plots established 10 field days organized 10 Master's students trained
ERAVCDP Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	Angola	Direct: 1,200,000 Indirect: 1,000,000	211.4 million 2026–2031	2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated 400 km rural roads constructed 9 markets and warehouses established 360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed
Regenerative agri Multinational - Evidence-based regenerative agriculture to address climate change in Africa	Nigeria Ethiopia	Direct: 200,000 Indirect: 500,000	975,000 2023 - 2026	200,000 farmers targeted 40–60% increase productivity products targeted 30% improvement in livelihoods targeted 20 regenerative conducted per country

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

Decarbonizing Rice
Improving Rice Productivity by Decarbonizing Cultivation For 12,000 Hectares of Irrigated Land in Benin Republic

Benin

Direct: 500,000

900.000

2023–2026

12,000 farmers & 12,000ha targeted
96 demonstration plots established
10 field days organized
10 Master's students trained

ERAVCDP
Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project

Angola

Direct: 1,200,000
Indirect: 1,000,000

211.4 million

2026–2031

2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated
400 km rural roads constructed
9 markets and warehouses established
360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed

Regenerative agri
Multinational - Evidence-based regenerative agriculture to address climate change in Africa

Nigeria
Ethiopia

Direct: 200,000
Indirect: 500,000

975,000

2023 - 2026

200,000 farmers targeted
40–60% increase productivity products targeted
30% improvement in livelihoods targeted
20 regenerative conducted per country

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Benin	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 15: life on land

For more effectiveness and rapid activation,

Mix biochar with organic manure or compost and incorporate it into the soil during land preparation.
Frequency of application: Due to its gradual process in decomposing in soil, single applications of biochar can provide beneficial effects over several growing seasons in the field.
Therefore, biochar does not need to be applied with each crop, as is usually the case for manures, compost, and synthetic fertilizers.

Biochar is great stuff but it can be dangerous to you and your crops. Therefore, Keep your biochar wet – the tiny particles can get in your lungs and cause cancer
Never put biochar in your soil immediately after making it.

Biochar is very powerful if you use too much you risk:
• Locking up the nitrogen in your soil
• Locking up any chemical fertilizers you are using
• Locking up any pesticides and herbicides you are using

Materials and Equipment

Drum
Duct tube
Ignition cone
Feed stalk (e.g., rice husk, wood, shavings or other crop residues)
Ignition material
Water
Nylon/leather
Rope

Rice Husk Biochar Production Procedure

Feed the ignition material into the ignition cone
Insert the cone into the drum
Fill the drum with the feed stalk
Ignite the material inside the cone
Insert the duct tube into the ignition cone and confirm the smoke is escaping through the pipe
After 3-4 hrs stir the rice husk with the formed biochar
Fill the drum with the rice husk to the brim
After 1-2 hrs wet the duct tube with water and remove
Shut the air/oxygen by covering the drum with leather
Leave it in this condition until the next day
The biochar is ready to be activated with compost or compost tea