Farm waste into healthy soil, cleaner air and climate action
We are a registered consortium in Ghana that tests, demonstrates and scales agroecology and circular economy technologies for smallholder farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. We build on the results of the ACE4ES project and its living laboratory at Fumesua, Kumasi.
Track record from the ACE4ES project
Five research themes
Scaling the soil regeneration system
Pyrolysis chambers, aerated composting sheds and mixing platforms turn crop residues into biochar and compost in place of burning. We are seeking partners to bring the system to more farming communities.
See the project pipelineA project became a standing consortium
ACE4ES ran from 12 March 2024 to 31 December 2026 with funding from the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. Agroecology Circularity LBG now carries the work forward as an independent entity, able to programme and raise funds for new research and development.
Read the ACE4ES legacyLatest
Mission and story
Our mission is to make smallholder farming in Sub-Saharan Africa more productive, less polluting and more resilient, by keeping nutrients and carbon on the farm instead of burning them.
After each harvest, crop residues are often burned to clear fields. The smoke releases black carbon and other short-lived climate pollutants, harms health, and takes organic matter away from soils that are already losing fertility. Mineral fertiliser used without organic matter adds to the decline.
The Agroecology and Circular Economy for Ecosystem Services in Sub-Saharan Africa (ACE4ES) project set out to show a practical alternative. Coordinated by CSIR-Crops Research Institute and funded by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, it tested agroecology and circular economy technologies to reduce emissions from rice and maize production across Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and Tanzania.
The consortium formed a company limited by guarantee so the work could continue beyond a single grant. Agroecology Circularity LBG designs and runs its own programmes, raises funds and coordinates partners for research and development on the ground.
Governance and registration
Agroecology Circularity LBG is a company limited by guarantee registered with the Office of the Registrar of Companies, Republic of Ghana.
| Registered name | Agroecology Circularity LBG |
|---|---|
| Former name | Agroecology and Circular Economy for Ecosystem Services in Sub-Saharan Africa LBG |
| Registration number | CG035660525 |
| Incorporated | 20 May 2025, under the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) |
| Change of name | By special resolution, approved by the Registrar of Companies on 21 May 2026 |
Board
Board members will be listed here.
Membership
Consortium partners join under written agreements that set out roles, work packages and data sharing.
Financial management
Annual reports and audited accounts will be published here as they become available.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding, data protection and conflict of interest policies will be published here.
Team
Dr Kwaku Onwona-Hwesofour Asante
Coordinator of the consortium and former Principal Investigator of ACE4ES. Research Scientist and Head of the Cassava and Related Value Chains Section at CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi. His work covers agroecology and circular economy systems, greenhouse gas measurement for rice and biomass burning, and climate finance.
ORCID 0000-0003-3539-3505
Profiles coming soon
Theme leads, technical staff and board members will be introduced here.
Research and development themes
Our work is organised in five themes. Each draws on results from ACE4ES and on the facilities at the Technology Park.
Our approach
Validate on a living laboratory
Technologies are trialled at the Multi-Cultural Technology Park under replicated designs, with soil, water, yield and emission measurements.
Show farmers, students and officials
Field days, study tours and training let people see the systems working and judge them for themselves.
Take what works to communities
Farmer organisations and youth groups carry practices into their communities, and policy engagement helps them spread.
Women and young people are a deliberate focus of our training. Under ACE4ES, YILAA trained more than 800 women and young people on regenerative soil amendments.
Capabilities
| Capability | What we have |
|---|---|
| Methane measurement | LI-COR LI-7810 trace gas analyser for chamber-based methane flux measurement |
| Black carbon measurement | MicroAeth MA350 aethalometer, used in rice straw burning emission trials |
| Rice methane mapping | Rice methane measurement and mapping with MIT across five agroecological zones of Ghana |
| Soil and water | Field soil and water measurement kit |
| Biochar and compost production | Locally built pyrolysis chambers, aerated composting sheds and mixing platforms |
| Field platform | 15-acre Multi-Cultural Technology Park with crop, livestock and aquaculture systems |
| Training | Farmer, youth and professional training through consortium partners |
Nitrous oxide measurement is not yet offered. The instrument's sensor is being replaced because it is not sensitive enough for the measurements we need.
Multi-Cultural Technology Park, Fumesua
A 15-acre living laboratory near Ejisu in the Ashanti Region, where agroecology and circular economy technologies are tested, demonstrated and scaled.
The park was commissioned at the 2025 CSIR-Crops Research Institute Open Day in August 2025. It brings together scientists, farmers, students and entrepreneurs, and the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) has recognised it as a regional demonstration hub.
Facilities and technologies
Pyrolysis chambers
Locally built, low-oxygen chambers that turn crop residues into biochar instead of smoke.
Aerated composting sheds
Sheds that speed up the decomposition of residues and manure into compost.
Mixing platforms
Where compost and biochar are blended into high-carbon soil amendments.
Rice-duck-fish systems
Paddies where ducks control weeds and fertilise the water, and a fish pond completes the loop.
Integrated livestock–crop plots
Goat and sheep units whose droppings and litter feed back into crop production.
Biogas digester
Converts organic waste into energy, with the digestate returned to the soil.
Visits and study tours
We host farmer groups, students, researchers, government officials and international delegations. Visits can be a short field walk or a structured study tour with training sessions. In one example, the park hosted a study tour on tomato value chains for a Kaduna State delegation, with FAO Nigeria and YILAA.
Future plans
Discussions are under way with Ghana's Environmental Protection Authority and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition on a West African Centre of Excellence for Clean Air at the park. It would provide training, policy coordination, regional meetings and data sharing on cutting super pollutants in agriculture and waste.
Project pipeline
These projects are ready to develop with funders and partners. Each can be scoped to a funder's priorities, and we will send a concept note on request.
Impact dashboard
Every figure here is measured or documented, with its source. We report direct reach only.
| Result | Figure | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young people trained on bio-inputs preparation (CSIR-CRI) | 500+ | ACE4ES, 2024–2026 | Consortium training records |
| Farmers trained on compost and liquid fertilisers from biomass and fish materials (PFAG) | 1,200+ | ACE4ES, 2024–2026 | Consortium training records |
| Women and young people trained on regenerative soil amendments (YILAA) | 800+ | ACE4ES, 2024–2026 | Consortium training records |
| Crop residues converted into organic fertiliser on degraded plots in Ghana | 100+ tonnes | To January 2026 | CCAC, 2 Jan 2026 |
| Pilot communities with a decline in open burning among participating farmers | Ofinso, Dambai and Wa | To January 2026 | CCAC, 2 Jan 2026 |
| Technology Park established | 15 acres | Commissioned Aug 2025 | GNA, Aug 2025 |
Field stories
Fields that are no longer burned
In Ofinso, Dambai and Wa, participating farmers are turning to composting and biochar instead of burning residues after harvest.
Young people learning agroecology
In March 2025, YILAA trained young people in northern Benin in agroecological and circular technologies for rice and maize, mixing theory with practical demonstrations.
The ACE4ES story on film
A short film for the Climate and Clean Air Coalition's video campaign features Ghanaian government officers and the project team. It will be linked here once released.
Research with us
24 field-ready MPhil and PhD topics on our research platform, shared between Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR).
Each topic can be completed within 12 months for MPhil/MSc or 18 months for PhD, including proposal, fieldwork, laboratory analysis and thesis writing. Each specific objective is designed to produce its own journal article.
Research topics
| Code | Topic | University | Level | Months |
|---|
A = Agronomy, B = Environmental Science, C = Climate Science. Full objectives, methods and timelines are in the programme's technical document, available on request.
Supervision and facilities
Two supervisors
Each student has a principal supervisor at their university and a co-supervisor from the consortium.
Shared field platforms
Students work on the biochar–manure, rice-duck-fish and cover crop plots at the Technology Park, which lowers field costs and allows joint papers.
Authorship and data
Students are first authors on papers from their objectives. All data go into the programme database under a data-sharing agreement.
How to apply
- Review the topics with your department and identify those that fit your students.
- Send an expression of interest naming the topic codes, the proposed students and the principal supervisor.
- Meet with the consortium to confirm the design, start date and laboratory arrangements.
- Sign a placement agreement covering supervision, data and authorship.
- Complete site induction before the start window. Field topics start 1–3 months before planting.
Regional Policy Guide on Agroecology, Circular Economy and Climate Action
A guide for policymakers in Sub-Saharan Africa on bringing agroecology and circular economy into agricultural and climate policy.
The guide was developed under ACE4ES and is endorsed by national partners. It was launched in person at the CSIR-Crops Research Institute Open Day in August 2025, and virtually in August 2026 through a six-session webinar and policy briefing series running from 27 August to 22 October 2026.
The guide will be available to download here.
Publications
Rice straw burning emissions
Three manuscripts and a PRISMA systematic review from the rice straw burning trials have been prepared for peer review. Each will be listed here with its DOI once published.
Webinar series recordings
Recordings and summaries of the six policy briefing sessions will be added after the series closes on 22 October 2026.
Media kit
Logos, approved photographs, a fact sheet and spokesperson contacts are available to journalists on request.
Who we work with
Consortium partners
KNUST
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Hosts postgraduate research on crop, soil, livestock and aquaculture systems.
UENR
University of Energy and Natural Resources. Hosts postgraduate research on biomass, emissions, climate and circularity.
AHEFS
Agency for Health and Food Security. Consortium partner under a teaming agreement.
AUSTECH
Consortium partner.
International collaborators
MIT
Rice methane measurement and mapping across five agroecological zones of Ghana.
GCI Rwanda
Collaboration under a memorandum of understanding.
ACE4ES project partners and funder
ACE4ES was coordinated by CSIR-Crops Research Institute with partners including the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Youth Initiative for Land in Africa (YILAA) and AfricaRice. It was funded by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, hosted by the UN Environment Programme.
Read the ACE4ES legacyUpcoming events
Final session of the Regional Policy Guide webinar series
The sixth and closing session of the policy briefing series on agroecology, circular economy and climate action.
News
Fund a project
Fund a project in our pipeline, co-fund one with other partners, or work with us to design a programme around your priorities.
Partner with us
Research partners
Universities and research institutes can run joint studies on our field platform and share instruments and data.
Implementation partners
Farmer organisations, youth groups and NGOs can take proven practices to their communities with our training support.
Private sector
Companies can test, adapt and scale technologies such as biochar, compost and integrated systems through the Technology Park.
Climate finance
Carbon market and climate finance actors can work with us on measurement, reporting and verification for biochar and rice methane.
Training
We offer practical training in composting, biochar production, bio-inputs, integrated rice-duck-fish systems and emissions measurement for farmers, young people, extension staff and researchers. Tell us about your group and we will arrange a course.
Contact us
Consortium Coordinator
Dr Kwaku Onwona-Hwesofour Asante
Multi-Cultural Technology Park, Fumesua, near Ejisu, Ashanti Region, Ghana
Agroecology and Circular Economy for Ecosystem Services in Sub-Saharan Africa
| Duration | 12 March 2024 to 31 December 2026 |
|---|---|
| Budget | USD 1,070,000 |
| Funder | Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), hosted by the UN Environment Programme |
| Coordinator | CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana |
| Countries | Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and Tanzania |
| Aim | Reduce short-lived climate pollutants from rice and maize production through agroecology and circular economy technologies |
What the project achieved
- Built a soil regeneration system of pyrolysis chambers, composting sheds and mixing platforms, converting more than 100 tonnes of crop residues into organic fertiliser.
- Reduced open burning among participating farmers in Ofinso, Dambai and Wa.
- Trained 500+ young people (CSIR-CRI), 1,200+ farmers (PFAG) and 800+ women and young people (YILAA).
- Established the 15-acre Multi-Cultural Technology Park, recognised by CORAF as a regional demonstration hub.
- Developed the Regional Policy Guide on Agroecology, Circular Economy and Climate Action, endorsed by national partners.
- Secured instruments for methane and black carbon measurement and trained scientists to use them.