We created the report primarily in response to growing concerns among many investors about the negative impacts of modern conventional agriculture. We learned that not only do regenerative practices offer significant environmental benefits – carbon sequestration, minimization of pesticides in the food supply, promoting biodiversity – they have the power to help boost economic opportunity and to make a fundamental shift in how communities interact with the land. Regenerative agriculture is essentially about using what we have learned about agriculture and economics and combining that with the experiences and knowledge from communities who have worked the land for millennia.
Our report contributors (most of whom were also seminar participants) specialize in different aspects of food system investment and advocacy, but they share a deep commitment to applying regenerative principles to address climate change as well as other critical social and environmental issues. These principles include working with the land rather than in opposition to it; deploying capital that is patient, and not solely focused on quarterly returns; supporting communities that historically have had limited access to capital; using technology to help increase the efficacy of regenerative farming practices; and avoiding extractive finance – that is to say, finance that takes more value from the land and those who work on the land than it puts back.
The question for investors is not whether regenerative agriculture makes sense, but rather how to invest most effectively in the changes needed. The contributors to this report show us how to do that, and their passion is even more evident in our video session.
Our replay focuses on the opening panel discussion. Following that session, we broke out into smaller groups to discuss the following themes: financing social equity within regenerative agriculture; investing in the transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture; investing in AgTech for impact and transforming the food system. The four contributors who appear in this replay are Craig Wichner, Farmland LP; Skya Ducheneaux, Akiptan; Caroline Ashley, Forum for the Future; and Rini Greenfield, Rethink Food. (Please see our full report for important disclosures.)
If you would like to learn more about investing in regenerative agriculture, please contact us.
Please see the PDF version of this article for important disclosures.
