Together with farmers in tropical countries, we provide effective climate action,
We deliver transparent, credible and engaging documentation.
Our approach benefits the right people; those affected most by climate change.
Climate Change Mitigation
How?
TroFaCo and our partners plant hundreds of thousands of trees in Uganda and Cambodia. Groups of organized farmers or schools or temples take care of them, in agreement with local authorities.
The villagers enjoy many benefits, such as fruits or medicine from the trees. They may plant mango and sell the fruits, or Moringa or Neem trees for medicine. Neem is often called ‘the village drugstore’.
The benefits from fruits, medicine and from the protection the trees provide against erosion are very large, and even more important to the villagers than the income from climate mitigation. The trees simply are good development. Therefore the people take good care of them.
TroFaCo then sell climate change mitigation based on the CO2 absorbed by the trees and provide additional income to the community.
Usually the local associations put their share of the mitigation-related income into their savings groups, later to be used for common purposes. In schools they may use them for small revovations or similar.
When we have established good collaboration with one village, we may ask them if they want to produce herbs, fruits or other agricultural products for a reliable company in Europe or USA. If they agree, we try and find such a customer and help build mutually beneficial relations. This also helps local development.
Here we show how we do in Cambodia, in TroFaCo’s local company CAFACA. (Click on the link)
About Us
How it all began
TroFaCo was established in 2014. Its founders Steffen Johnsen and Thomas O’Brien Kirk are Danish, part of a large network in Europe and tropical Africa and Asia. We have worked for many years in international development and lived for several years overseas. Thomas in Africa, Steffen in Asia.
We have especially enjoyed working with farmers’ organisations that serve the interests of their members, have good internal democracy, and whose elected leaders enjoy the trust of the members. We know many such organisations.
Based on this experience we established TroFaCo.
Socio-Economic Enterprise
TroFaCo is a Socio-Economic Enterprise
- TroFaCo’s climate action has a defined positive impact on the global climate change.
- TroFaCo has positive socio-economic impact in the rural areas where our partners plant trees.
- A substantial part (25-30%) of TroFaCo’s carbon revenue is allocated to the local people in the area where the trees grow.
- The communites get the trees for free and enjoy benefits, such as fruits, medicinal properties, protection of roads and canals, etc.
- We are not in it for the money: After covering our modest costs, TroFaCo’s income is invested into an expansion of our activities. We wish to provide very substantial climate change action and to benefit many, many people.
Partners & clients
Development organisations, individuals and business schools
DanChurchAid (DCA) is our first and longest-serving sponsor. TroFaCo has a long-term agreement with DCA to provide compensation for the CO2 emissions from the staff travels of this large, Danish developmental NGO. DCA selected TroFaCo for its credible approach and reporting as well as its positive impact in the tropical communities. TroFaCo provides annual reports on climate- and social effects in the areas where trees allocated to DCA are compensating more than 6,000 tonnes of CO2
GrowForIt is a voluntary association and network of concerned Danish citizens, started by senior engineers in the wind turbine industry. Private sponsors to GrowForIt compensate for their carbon footprints through TroFaCo. Together we have developed an innovatove offer for citizens of EU who can compensate their lifelong CO2 emissions for 1,000€.
TroFaCo and DIS collborate on a social project to help local communities to build / rebuild local ecosystems by planting local trees that improve livelihoods and contribute to reforestation.
Danish Institute of Study Abroad (DIS) is a non-profit study abroad foundation established in Denmark in 1959, with locations in Copenhagen and Stockholm. DIS provides programs taught in English, for upper-division undergraduate students from distinguished North American colleges and universities.
Nordic Climate Facility funded the upstart of TroFaCo through the Cambodia Farmland Carbon project, CAFACA.
NCF is managed by Nordic Development Fund (NDF).
TroFaCo and ActionAid Vietnam (AAV) have entered a strategic agreement to apply the TroFaCo approach in Vietnam. AAV manages local tree planting through their exisiting network, TroFaCo provides technical advice and documentation/verification and both partners do marketing and sales.
Community Integrated Development Initiative (CIDI) is a national NGO in Uganda. It works with disadvantaged communities and has more then 10 years of experience and constant growth. With TroFaCo CIDI works with communities in Rakai (in the South of Uganda – where AIDS first started), and in Soroti, a dry area in the North, previously ravaged by the ‘Lords Resistance Army’. Since April 2017 CIDI manages the tree planting sponsored by GrowForIt’s supporters.
TroFaCo is supported by Climate-KIC (Knowledge and Information Community), the EU’s largest public private partnership across sectors and geographies addressing climate change through innovation to build a zero carbon economy. Climate-KIC is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
180 degrees is a educational program of a large number of business schools. TroFaCo works with Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, Kings College in the UK and University of Antwerp in Belgium on development of our marketing and strategic directions for our development. Previously we also worked with Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania, USA.
As the only company from Denmark, TroFaCo participated in the Solutions COP21 pavillon during the COP 21 climate meeting in Paris in December 2015, and presented our climate mitigation solution.
The ‘Green Church’ initiative of the National Council of Churches in Denmark buys its climate change mitigation from TroFaCo, in a long-term agreement.
New Partner? 
The TroFaCo approach attracts much attention and we regularly receive requests for adding new partners. These are very welcome. Please send us an email or give us a call, if you are interested. But please consider that TroFaCo is a socio-economic enterprise and needs sales to operate. We are not a funding or marketing support operation. Also, the TroFaCo appoach is based on collaboration with well-organised, existing groups of farmers, who have the capacity to enter agreements and manage the planted trees.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ’s
Many benefits to the community
The communities that cooperate with TroFaCo and its partners enjoy good benefits. In Cambodia we calculated those in our final report to the donor (Nordic Climate Facility), who funded the beginning. It turned out the communities over the coming 20 years will enjoy benefits that are five times larger than the initial investments – on top…
DetailsHow we measure carbon in the trees
We visit each planting one time per year. Our Monitoring and Reporting specialist leads a team from our partner or local office, together with interested farmers. First we count the number of surviving trees. Then we take out a tape measure and measure around the trunks of one of one in every 10 or 20…
DetailsWe plant trees together with the villagers
The general approach: TroFaCo strongly believes in collaboration with the communities. So we or rather, our local partner ask the community they can select people among them who know about trees. Usually there is one or more in a village (or in neighbour village) who knows. That person is then given a contract by TroFaCo’s…
DetailsWhich kinds of trees do TroFaCo plant?
Which types of trees do troFaCo support? Mainly timber-species or which ones?
TroFaCo plant trees the farmers want
TroFaCo and its partners leave it to the villagers to select which kinds of trees they want. Usually they choose a variety of species, even within the same planting. Some trees, such as Mango or Tamarind, they can use for fruits. Either they can consume the fruit or sell it at the market. Those trees…
DetailsCertification of TroFaCo’s offsets?
It appears TroFaCo is not certified by any usual standard. Why is that?
TroFaCo has its own unique verification. Better information and better for the farmers
TroFaCo is very effective in getting benefits to local villages and accurate documentation to you. That is because we use a unique verification system, instead of certification by outsiders. There are mainly three reasons we chose to do our own verification : 1) Development of projects and their verification under the various standards is expensive (often…
DetailsHow is my money spent?
The money I pay TroFaCo, how do you use that?
How TroFaCo spend your money
A share of the payment, i.e. 3 USD per tonne (or approximately 1 USD per tree) is allocated to the villagers. They have a designated account with CAFACA in Cambodia and CIDI in Uganda from which they get paid every year. We pay according to how much their trees have grown. And this we measure by visiting…
DetailsWhat if some trees die?
What happens if some of the trees, I paid for, die? I assume it is quite common young trees die.
Documentation by smartphones – how do you do it?
How does your verification by smartphones work?
How TroFaCo use smartphones in documentation
First the simple version: We work with local people as reporters from the communities and the trees. In Cambodia these are employed directly by us, In Uganda they are staff of our partner, CIDI. They are often somebody with long NGO experience and always somebody well respected in the home area. We then supply them with…
DetailsTroFaCo replace dead trees
If some of ‘your’ trees die in a young age, the group that planted them will replace – according to the contract they have with our local partner. If any trees die after 2 years (may happen in a severe drought), then we replace with trees in another location. And we let you know exactly…
DetailsDo you have problems with land grabs?
I have read that land grabs are very common in many developing countries. How does TroFaCo deal with that?
How TroFaCo avoid land grabs
Yes, land grabs are a threat. We deal with this by working with partners that are sufficiently strong to resist land grabs and by planting on land that is either not interesting for land grabbers or protected by a strong organisation. I all cases we request the local authorities to support that the land is…
DetailsRECENT NEWS
Who we are
Steffen Johnsen,
CEO
Steffen has 25 years experience working with farmers, climate change and sustainable agriculture in many tropical countries. He has lived 3 years in Vietnam and 2 years in Cambodia. He holds a PhD from UC Berkeley, College of Natural Resources.
Contact
Phone numbers:
(+45) 2779 0251
Email:
ceo@trofaco.com
Thomas O’Brien Kirk
CFO
Thomas has more than 25 years experience in international development and is also an accomplished business advisor. He has lived in Africa for long periods, but is now in Denmark.
Contact
Phone number:
(+45) 2962 3547
Email:
cfo@trofaco.com