Climate Curve

Primary Project Category:

Secondary Project Category:

Name of Project:

Year Project Originated:

Project Summary / Description:

This initiative focuses on the development and deployment of biodegradable, three-layer alginate beads designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture while improving climate resilience. The beads are placed in the root zone, where they absorb rainfall or irrigation water and release it gradually, improving water efficiency and reducing irrigation demand. A nutrient layer supports improved nitrogen availability, reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers, while the outer layer controls release and biodegrades naturally over a growing season.

By reducing fertilizer-related emissions, lowering energy use associated with irrigation, and supporting increased plant biomass and soil organic carbon, the initiative delivers measurable climate mitigation benefits. The solution is low-cost, infrastructure-free, and compatible with existing farming practices, enabling scalable deployment in climate-vulnerable, under-resourced agricultural contexts.

How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

['Reduces GHGs (e.g., projects that reduce sources of GHGs, such as through efficiency or other changes in consumption)', 'Removes/stores GHGs (e.g., projects that capture, sequester, or otherwise enhance the "sinks" that accumulate and store GHGs)']

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

This project is intentionally designed to empower climate-vulnerable and underrepresented groups, particularly smallholder farmers, rural communities, and youth in northern Malawi, groups that experience the impacts of climate change most acutely yet are often excluded from climate innovation and decision-making.

The alginate bead system lowers barriers to participation in climate action by providing a low-cost, infrastructure-free solution that does not require electricity, mechanization, or technical expertise. This makes it accessible to women and youth farmers, who often have limited access to capital, land, and extension services. By improving water and nutrient efficiency at the root level, the project supports food security and resilience without increasing labor or financial burden.

Underrepresented groups are also reflected in the organization itself. The initiative is youth-led and grounded in lived experience from a climate-vulnerable context. Prototype testing and deployment are conducted in collaboration with local farmers, ensuring that feedback from rural communities directly informs design, usability, and scaling decisions. Technical collaborators and field testers are engaged locally, strengthening knowledge transfer and ownership.

By embedding climate mitigation directly into everyday farming practices, the project enables underrepresented communities not only to benefit from climate solutions, but to actively participate in delivering them.