Scaling regenerative farming is the target of a new Sustainable Markets Initiative project launched today (24 March).
The group – involving McCain Foods, McDonald’s and Waitrose, among others – believes it can demonstrate the importance of cross-sector collaboration when it comes to driving the adoption of regenerative farming. Under the moniker ‘Routes to Regen’, the project will focus on the east of England throughout 2025, addressing environmental challenges posed by the global food system.
While the benefits of regenerative farming are well established, research by the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Agribusiness Hub has found that the economic risk and a fragmented support system often deter farmers from making the transition.
Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Barclays, Aon, Tokio Marine Kiln, and Lloyd’s are also part of the group looking to help accelerate the move to regenerative farming. The project will be programme-managed by The Royal Countryside Fund, with on-farm advice from Ceres Rural and farmer support in the following areas:
- Financial: the scheme will raise awareness of the discounted capital available, business planning advice, opportunities to supply rotational crops, discounted seeds for cover crops and pollinators, weather insurance, advice to make best use of public funding.
- Technical: the initiative will provide research and trial insights, connections to local livestock farmers, assistance with measurement/data collection such as discounted soil sampling.
- Peer-to-Peer: getting involved in Route to Regen will give participants opportunities to attend demonstration days and knowledge sharing events.
The support options are to be provided by the Sustainable Markets Initiative members as well as other organisations operating in the region including ADM, British Sugar, Burgess Farms, Cranswick plc, Farm Carbon Toolkit, Frontier, Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs), Muntons, North Farm Livestock, Soil Association Exchange, Sustainable Food Trust and Wildfarmed.
The project will also provide an opportunity to test non-profit group Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform’s recently developed ‘Regenerating Together Framework’, which presents a globally aligned definition and farmer-centric approach for regenerative agriculture, as the basis for its measurement and evaluation.
Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, CEO of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, said: “The Routes to Regen project builds on the significant work undertaken by the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Agribusiness Hub that identified that financial risk and a fragmented support system were key barriers to the adoption of regenerative farming practices.
“It exemplifies the power of cross-sector collaboration that the Sustainable Markets Initiative is uniquely positioned to facilitate and aims to demonstrate a new model for how industries can unite to drive sustainable change on a global scale.”
Beth Hart, chief sustainability & social impact officer at McDonald’s, commented: “Regenerative agriculture presents us with a critical opportunity to secure a long-term, sustainable future for farming.
“We’re continuing to test and learn but we already know that implementing regenerative practices requires real and lasting partnership across the supply chain to support and incentivise farmers to adopt these practices.”
The Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Agribusiness Hub launched in 2020 with the target of accelerating the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices within the industry, while ensuring positive partnerships with the world’s farmers.
Read more about the Sustainable Markets Initiative on Green Retail World
[image credit: Waitrose]
