May 25, 2024
Spotlight Story
Spotlight – UNEP discusses seven ways to restore land, halt desertification, and combat drought. Check out the story, here.
Industry Updates
Top agricultural experts from the G20 engaged in discussions on food security and strategies for climate change adaptation in Brazil, against the backdrop of tragic flooding in Southern Brazil which were highlighted as a poignant example of the profound consequences stemming from global warming. The G20 agriculture leaders convened to address critical issues of food security and the adaptation of agricultural systems to climate change, with the shared goal of ensuring a more equitable and hunger-free future for generations to come. [link]
More than 5 million large farmland trees vanished between 2018 and 2022 in India, partly due to altered cultivation practices, revealing a “concerning trajectory,” new research published in the journal Nature Sustainability has found. Researchers said that “an observable trend was emerging” wherein agroforestry systems are being replaced with paddy rice fields. The team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, explained that the decision to remove trees is often driven by perceived low benefits of the trees, coupled with concerns that their shading effect may adversely affect crop yields. [link]
About 100 Riverside, California middle school students recently learned about the importance of sustainable food production through hands-on activities with UC Riverside scientists. Students met with agricultural scientists and volunteers, worked on plant experiments, and saw how insects and microorganisms can cause plant damage or be used to recycle food waste. Organizers hope to acquire outside funding to continue annual outreach events and agricultural sustainability courses for middle, high school, and university students. [link]
After a successful first year, The Future Farmer Program from Tesco and Harper Adams University's School of Sustainable Food and Farming, has announced that there is a further 75 places up for grabs, and are calling on young up-and-coming UK farmers to join the second year of the program. Starting in September 2024, the program is aimed at farmers aged 40 and under who are interested in boosting their sustainable agriculture skills. The first cohort completed a nine-month program of activities based on practical learning, and those farmers are now preparing to complete their course following a 'Walk the Supply Chain' event, held in the West Midlands countryside, whereby participants can visit AB Food Group, a leading European food processor, Sansaw Estate, a progressive dairy, and Halfpenny Green Vineyard, a farm-to-fork enterprise. [link]
ADM and its global regenerative agriculture program were named a finalist in the Enterprise category of Fast Company's 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards. In 2023, ADM delivered more than 2.8 million regenerative acres, exceeding its 2-million-acre goal, partnering with more than 28,000 growers of corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, cotton, sorghum, canola and barley as it expanded its regenerative agriculture efforts to new regions, including the launch of programs in Europe and Latin America. ADM connects these climate-smart producers with downstream CPG brands such as PepsiCo, Nestle, and Carlsberg to help them create more sustainably sourced products and reduce their Scope 3 emissions. [link]
Dr. Robert “Bob” Quinn, founder of Kamut International, has announced the launch of the Quinn Institute, a “research and demonstration hub designed to foster the evolution of regenerative organic agriculture and a place-based approach to solving the national food and health crisis.” The Institute aims to serve five pillars of system change in the United States: 1) creating a partnered environment and building community engagement, 2) advancing science that promotes food as medicine, 3) leading place-based agriculture research and the practice of regenerative organic agriculture, 4) understanding and promoting solutions that regenerative organic agriculture can bring to bear for mediating climate change, and 5) using a regional approach with far-reaching national and global implications. [link]
The Ministry of Environment in Rwanda has launched an $18 million (approximately Rwf23 billion) project to restore degraded land and forests in Southern and Northern provinces from 2024 to 2028. The project will focus on landscape restoration activities such as soil erosion control, agroforestry, and community adaptive skills for agro-forestry development. Soil erosion control will be carried out on 1,000 hectares with terraces while agro-forestry trees including fruit trees will be planted on 80,000 hectares. Nearly 10,000 improved cook stoves will be disseminated to farmers' households to decrease pressure on trees. [link]
Plants adapt genetically over time to the special conditions of organic farming, demonstrated in a long-term study conducted at the University of Bonn. Barley plants were cultivated in two adjacent fields by the researchers, employing conventional farming practices in one and organic methods in the other. Throughout a span exceeding 20 years, the organic barley underwent enrichment with distinct genetic traits divergent from those of the control group. Among the findings, it highlights the significance of cultivating varieties tailored specifically for organic agricultural practices. These outcomes have been recently disseminated in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development. [link]
Syngenta Group and The Nature Conservancy have renewed their successful collaboration that links conservation goals with economic potential and addresses societal issues like deforestation and land degradation. The two partners have been collaborating since 2009 and entered into a global collaboration in 2018. This year's extension will focus on five strategic projects around the globe, to include an ambitious target to recover over 300,000 hectares of degraded land in Cerrado Brazil while also regenerating agricultural soils in China. In the U.S., the partnership will focus on enhancing climate resilience of crop land. [link]
A study recently published in the journal Nature compared the impact of organic and conventional food production using eight environmental health indicators and found that organic food has a significantly lower environmental impact than conventional food production for six of the eight indicators. For the analysis, scientists reviewed 100 different “life cycle assessments” (LCA) of organic and conventionally grown food products from cradle-to-farm gate. The results—that organic food production is less impactful on the environment—add to the robust body of research that underscores the importance of organic farming to the development of a sustainable global food system while addressing climate change. [link]
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with CIFOR-ICRAF and other partners has announced the establishment of the Regenerative Agriculture for the Conservation of the Amazon (ARCA) program. The program will invest $17.8 million to support actions aiming at reducing the causes of deforestation and degradation, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss through the promotion of rural development, support to public policies, training and scientific studies focusing on the development and implementation of agroforestry systems in Brazil. [link]
The UK's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced the expansion of an "improved" Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for farmers, containing 102 sustainability-led actions that can be paid for by the government. The much-maligned SFI replaced EU farm subsidies and will be open to new entrants for the first time, including more than 20 new options to support more sustainable food production. Payments will now be made to farmers for actions including precision farming and agroforestry, while there is also a new and expanded offer for upland farmers and more actions for tenants on short-term contracts. In addition, further new actions would support flood preparedness, helping businesses to become more resilient to the changing climate and challenging weather conditions. [link]
McCain Foods has joined forces with BNP Paribas Bank Polska to launch a new regenerative agriculture program in Poland, built on a transition package to support potato growers on their sustainability journey. McCain is supporting Polish potato farmers in their transition to more sustainable agriculture practices, with a range of actions including technical, commercial and financial support. [link]
In Case You Missed It…
In early April, new research from Curtin University described how rising temperatures threaten to turn Australia’s soil into a net carbon emitter. See more, here.