A new partnership between a leading agribusiness and a major environmental group aims to advance regenerative agriculture and habitat conservation.
Louis Dreyfus Co. and The Nature Conservancy say they plan to focus their efforts “in strategic agricultural supply chains as part of a shared goal to mitigate climate change from food and agricultural production and improve biodiversity and ecosystem services.”
According to a release, the partnership will focus initially on grain and oilseed growth — with coffee and cotton acres also at play — and work to deploy holistic farming and production practices that “improve soil health, restore aquifers, promote biodiversity and mitigate climate change, while increasing farmers’ profitability and resilience over time.”
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TNC CEO Jennifer Morris said the group was “inspired” by Louis Dreyfus’s efforts “and [we] look forward to scaling those practices to eliminate deforestation and habitat conversion from commodity production on a global scale.”
“In order to see real change the full value chain needs to be engaged — from farmers to traders to retailers,” she said. “Collective action in this sector is imperative to unlock benefits for both people and nature.”
The regenerative ag efforts will initially be targeted on a “select set of large-scale, strategic efforts” in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina. All told, Louis Dreyfus plans to target “a minimum of 3 million acres (approximately 1.2 million hectares) by 2030, reaching out to some 30,000 farmers in selected supply chains,” a joint release noted.
TNC and Louis Dreyfus also plan to work toward pilot projects in other supply chains, specifically mentioning Brazil’s citrus sector, and coffee production in Vietnam, Indonesia, Uganda and elsewhere.
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