As a result of the ever-growing world population, intensified agricultural practices are necessary to ensure sufficient food security [1], and consequently an increased use of agrochemicals like pesticides follows. Unfortunately, the majority of applied pesticides never reach the target as losses due to factors like UV-radiation and rainfall [2,3]. As a solution to this, various nanosized carrier materials have gained interest for greater control over pesticide release and tunability of surface chemistry [2]. Our work presents a nanocarrier made from esterified softwood kraft lignin that forms amphiphilic nanoparticles capable of entrapping hydrophobic cargo. The developed system presented a high entrapment efficiency and a slow sustained release monitored for 60 days in an oil medium. Evaluation of the esterified lignin nanoparticles on a corn wax surface suggested that the particles were able to permeate across the surface. This favourable adherence and absorption were further confirmed using contact angle measurements of the lignin nanoparticle dispersion on fresh corn leaves, where a rapidly decreasing contact angle was observed. Overall, the obtained results indicate that esterified lignin nanoparticles could be a simple and biobased system with the ability to prevent pesticide losses while facilitating efficient plant protection.