New Tech partner to scale Regenerative Ag in Brazil

Two pioneering companies with an impact in the Brazilian AgriBusiness sector and with global operations unite to accelerate the transition process towards more resilient and regenerative agriculture in Brazil.

Regenerative Agriculture has become increasingly recognized in the world, with companies such as Danone, Natura, Kering, Nespresso, among others adopting such innovative practices. However, a factor that is still seen as limiting the scalability of Regenerative Agriculture in the world is technology. The partnership between Agrosmart and reNature will allow the use of technologies developed by Agrosmart in the reNature projects portfolio in Brazil. Just as reNature will support Agrosmart projects with agricultural technical knowledge of regenerative practices.

Impact Objective & SDGs

The partnership also aims to include metrics and impact indicators to bring transparency and traceability to consumers on the socio-environmental impacts of projects – such as: Carbon Footprint, Water Footprint, Increased biodiversity, Productivity, Input optimisation, Income improvement, Increase profitability, etc. The partnership is aligned with 4 SDGs: Life on Land 15, Climate Action 13, Food Hunger 2, Responsible Production 12.

The first joint projects will focus on the following commodities: Coffee, Cocoa, Cotton, Palm Oil, Rubber, Timber, Soybean and Cattle. The projects will be carried out in partnership with large companies, institutions and rural farmers cooperatives that have objectives and goals to reduce their socio-environmental impact. In addition, the partnership aims to democratize access to technology and regenerative agriculture for all sizes of farmers.

The two companies that met through the Thought for Food event in Switzerland in 2018 have a complementary portfolio of products and services. reNature aims to reach 1 million hectares of regenerated land by 2030, supporting farmers in the transition from conventional monoculture practices to diversified regenerative practices and Agrosmart to create more productive, sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture, supporting the decision-making of producers with their information. Technologies for MER (Monitor, Evaluate and Report), aligned with the TAPE methodology of social impact metrics developed by the UN FAO (Food & Agriculture Organization).

Why tech should meet Reg Ag?

Agrosmart solutions are capable of reducing water consumption by 60%, inputs by up to 40%, increasing productivity by up to 20%.

ReNature’s solutions have the potential for carbon sequestration of 36-45 tons per hectare per year, compared to traditional industrial monoculture systems that emit more than they sequester.

According to Felipe Villela, CCO and co-founder of reNature, the partnership is very important for the future of sustainable agriculture in Brazil.

“The integration of technologies in the scalability of regenerative systems will allow bringing more economically viable cases that will motivate farmers in the transition to a resilient system and that adapts to the impacts of climate change”.

Marcello Brito, President of ABAG (Brazilian Agribusiness Association) and Member of the Board of reNature also states that the way we have built agribusiness in the last 30 years will not be the same in the next 30.

“Technology is transforming this sector and will put new production and consumption trends in top priority. Welcome to the age of technology ”.

Guilherme Raucci, Agrosmart’s Chief Impact Officer, states that through this type of partnership, Brazil will consolidate itself as the largest supplier of food and environmental services to the world. Technology is therefore of fundamental importance to ensure transparency and accelerate this process.

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

The term “Regenerative Agriculture” was created by the American Robert Rodale, who used theories of ecological hierarchy to study the regeneration processes in agricultural systems over time. It is a concept linked to the possibility of producing by recovering the soil. Its proposal aims at the regeneration and maintenance of the entire food production system, including rural communities and consumers. This regeneration of agriculture must take into account, in addition to economic aspects, ecological, ethical and social equality issues.

Regenerative Agriculture is a process agriculture, unlike conventional monoculture agriculture, which is a input-based agriculture. It’s a system that mimics the processes of nature and aims to regenerate the soil, mitigate climate change, increase biodiversity, profitability per hectare and resilience of the farmer.

Below are the 5 basic principles of Regenerative Agriculture

About Agrosmart
Connected and intelligent Digital Agriculture Platform that provides information that helps rural producers and companies in the Agribusiness value chain to make better decisions in irrigation, pest and disease management, planting and harvesting, increasing production efficiency.

The company monitors crops with sensors and images, integrates different data sources and generates agronomic and climatic models, based on soil, microclimate and genetics conditions. Learn more at agrosmart.com.br