Acelera Agro: The women-led accelerator reviving food security in Africa
For decades, the expansion of industrial agriculture has drained vitality from ecosystems throughout the planet. Fertile soils, once alive with microorganisms and rich nutrients, are now exhausted from mono-cropping and the heavy use of synthetic chemicals. While high-income nations built vast industrial food systems, these methods left scars on the land and deepened the global divide, contributing to food insecurity in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, where climate impacts are most severe.
Here, women farmers — particularly those in resource-limited areas — face compounding effects: degraded soils, erratic climate patterns and dwindling resources. As local food systems erode, traditional practices that once supported food resilience are replaced by less sustainable alternatives.
Acelera Agro, an agricultural accelerator founded by Acelera Angola and Soha Nasser in Angola, is pioneering a new agricultural approach focused on climate-smart, soil-conscious solutions that support communities while creating regional projects with global impact.
This article is part of the Climate KIC series on shaping inclusive climate entrepreneurship and supporting women entrepreneurs. Together with Salesforce Foundation, we supported six women-led Entrepreneurship Support Organisations with flexible financial grants, capacity-building programmes and access to a supportive community, to scale and accelerate their impact on the ground.
A new vision for Sub-Saharan agriculture
Nasser’s vision for Acelera Agro began years ago as part of her experience gained in Lebanon’s agrifood sector, and continued during subsequent work with a climate innovation accelerator that highlighted sustainable food systems. Upon moving to Angola, she saw the chance to turn agriculture into a source of resilience and community strength. “We founded Acelera Agro to create an accelerator serving all of Sub-Saharan Africa and addressing every part of the agricultural ecosystem — not just production,” Nasser explains.
Acelera Agro’s model focuses on five pillars: adaptive farming, eco-friendly production, food innovation, circular economies and the water-energy-food nexus. The organisation’s climate-smart methods go beyond soil restoration — aiming to establish food security, improve resilience and reduce emissions by harmonising farming practices with the region’s unique ecological challenges.
Practical innovations for food security
Although the region’s GDP, health, and education levels have improved in recent decades, agricultural productivity for women farmers lags 20% to 30% behind that of men due to resource-access gaps. Acelera Agro seeks to close this fracture, helping women farmers access the tools and skills necessary to increase yields, conserve resources and sustain food systems.
To date, Acelera Agro has worked on 13 farms in Angola, introducing climate-adaptive practices that enhance crop health and soil vitality. Farmers are learning essential skills like water conservation, regenerative fertilisation and land management that encourage biodiverse soil systems and enable them to weather climate shifts without losing productivity.
Circularity, resource efficiency and climate solutions
At the core of Acelera Agro’s work is precision agriculture, which consists of data-driven practices that enable farmers to manage resources efficiently and receive early alerts for pest or climate-related issues. This proactive approach encourages land resilience and limits crop loss while maintaining soil health. Circularity, another of Acelera Agro’s pillars, promotes sustainable production by repurposing by-products and agricultural waste — keeping the agrarian cycle resource-conscious. Additionally, Acelera Agro emphasises resource efficiency across the water-energy-food link, implementing technologies that minimise water and energy usage from field to food processing.
Strategic partnerships: The role of Climate KIC
With support from Climate KIC, Acelera Agro has expanded its impact across Sub-Saharan Africa. This collaboration provides far more than funding, such as mentorship, resources and technical guidance. “Climate KIC has helped us deepen our work at the intersection of agriculture and climate,” Nasser says. Through these partnerships, Acelera Agro has cultivated a network of experts in sustainable agriculture, giving Nasser and her team valuable tools for navigating the complexities of climate-resilient farming.
The programme profoundly influenced Nasser’s approach to sustainability. “Learning about circularity was an eye-opener,” she admitted. “It moved beyond recycling and valorising side streams to present a structured approach to circularity. It gave me a new framework to think about sustainability.”
Nasser also gained valuable insights into the challenges of securing financial support. “Fundraising is such a challenging journey. Hearing experts and peers share their strategies gave me practical tips and a sense of camaraderie. We’re all facing the same uphill battle.”
Expanding Acelera Agro’s reach through partnerships
“Our programme is inclusive, but empowering women across agriculture remains a priority,” Nasser explains. She aims to expand training for women farmers and entrepreneurs, narrowing the gender gap in agricultural leadership and enhancing the region’s overall food resilience.
For Acelera Agro, the road to sustainable agriculture lies in sustained partnerships. “Climate KIC has been pivotal in our growth, but to take these solutions further, we need continued collaboration,” Nasser notes. By connecting with more partners and investing in climate-smart agriculture, Acelera Agro is transforming agriculture into a force for resilience.
When asked what advice she’d give to others looking to make a difference, she immediately responded, “Have grit. Passion and perseverance are what carry us through. If you want to inspire change, you must embody it first.”
About this programme
At Climate KIC, we’re committed to driving systemic change in inclusion across the climate innovation sector. Our programme, supported by CATAL1.5°T, Irish Aid, Green Hub and Salesforce Foundation helps partners identify gaps in their understanding of gender inequity and implement concrete actions for organisations to embed a gender lens into their everyday work.
We work with different partners and institutions to support our work on inclusive climate entrepreneurship. Contact us today to see how you can become a partner.