The Nigerian rice sector faces challenges of high greenhouse gas emissions from irrigated wetland cultivation and low productivity among smallholder farmers. Nigeria, Africa’s largest rice producer, targets import reduction and increased self-sufficiency. The GIZ-commissioned CORE project, implemented under the Innovation for Agriculture Fund, supported smallholders in adopting Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) practices to mitigate methane emissions while maintaining yields. The project also aimed to enable carbon credit generation under Verra’s VM0051 methodology. Unique was selected due to strong expertise in climate-smart agriculture, stakeholder engagement, and carbon market integration.

• Definition of farmer inclusion and benefit-sharing models for equitable carbon credit access
• Preparation of stakeholder consultations aligned with Verra methodology and gender standards
• Mapping of institutional roles and development of governance structures for AWD projects
• Development of scalable monitoring, reporting and verification system for AWD monitoring
• Development of digital tools to support AWD monitoring
• Advisory on institutional and policy alignment to integrate AWD