Money does grow on trees:

This forum is only two years old and it was set up to enable to flow of capital investment into regenerative food systems. One year ago, 200 practitioners and investors came together to create the forum. The founders of the forum felt that there was an increase in the desire to eat healthy food and tackle climate change at the same time.

The forum aims to help investors to find emerging investments so they can successfully allocate capital for impact and returns. Regenerative food systems are affected by factors like farm economics, natural capital, climate resilience and community resilience.

What I learnt the most from the conference is that there are a staggering amount of investors already active within regenerative agriculture, and that has to give us hope.

• Day 1 concentrated on having an impact on the food system.

• Day 2 concentrated on building a resilient food system.

• Days 3 and 4 concentrated on discussing the learning from days 1 and 2.

There were so many inspiring pioneers on the ground, in the distribution system and in the financial systems. I will include a number of companies and individuals that really stood out from each day’s conference – however, all of the speakers at the event brought amazing passion and knowledge to the sessions. Working with any one of those organisations or businesses would be valuable.

The conference is available to re-watch for a fee at this address.

Day 1

Matriark Foods – CEO Anna Hammond

Matriark Foods upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, delicious, low-sodium vegetable products for schools, hospitals, food banks and other foodservice. 10 million tonnes of perfectly usable vegetables never leave the farm gate because they are cosmetically imperfect, off-spec or simply unharvested. 2 million tonnes of perfectly usable vegetable scraps go to landfill. 13 million children in the United States are food insecure, and 117 million people in the US suffer from diet-related illnesses. It takes $15 billion to grow, transport and dispose of the surplus that contributes 14 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. Matriark Foods is a social impact business.

Grown By – CEO Lindsey Lusher Shute

The first platform cooperative for agriculture in the US, GrownBy has a network of 15,000 regenerative farms with an income of 13.6 million USD, 3.6 million of which is given back to farmers. Their impact is disrupting the system while stabilising farming. They are a direct-to-consumer network, providing a buffer: the customer can find the farmer directly. The famers are joint owners of the platform and customers can find their local famers and who they can trust. ‘GrownBy’ takes the risk out of buying local for the customer.

Day 2

Paul McMahon of SLM Partners made the investment case for agricultural farming. The main principles on which they operate are soil health, minimising external inputs, recycling nutrients and energy, exploiting diversity, and healthy food. They support this through the following practices: crop rotation, cover crops, reducing tillage, avoiding agro-chemicals, using compost, and pasture-based livestock.

There is a compelling economic case and it can attract funders. SLM Partners has 43 agro-focused funds. It is an inflation hedge. The funds generate income and have capital appreciation. Their funds have positive ESG ratings and impact. Paul stressed that farm incomes are very low in the US and farmers are largely living off subsidies – the USA has spent 37 billon USD on subsidies in 2020 so far. But regenerative agriculture has ‘profit levers’: higher good-quality yields, lower costs through use of solar energy and reduced artificial inputs, and better prices (premium products). Combined with the increase in consumer trends towards healthy food, social licence, natural capital and resilience, Paul stated that regenerative farms are more profitable.

Day 3

Alternative financing tools for transition

Key quotes from a panel of pioneers in alternative financing:

Dan Miller, Steward: Creating a system that empowers farmers to steward their land sustainably, with consumers – the people with the most to gain from sustainable farming.

Robyn O’Brien, rePlant Capital: We cannot fix a broken food system with a broken financial system.

Phil Taylor, MadAg: My life’s work is to create a world where people and ecosystems flourish together. Radical love must be the root of all action.

Phil Taylor, MadAg: We have the perennial fund to fund the transition the natural way; we support the middle farmer. We offer a 10-year note, borrow capital to transition to organic, they pay back 150% of what they borrowed. Payback is based on profitability. 10 years allows for longer-term thinking which is totally different from what happens in the mainstream funding sector. We have a community of risk, and we are looking to disrupt the system now.

Robyn O’Brien (RePlant Capital): We have a soil fund, which was listed in the Forbes Impact 50. It is a 250 million USD integrated capital fund. We have an arrogant, broken system affecting the health and wellbeing of farmers and consumers. New knowledge gives us new opportunities. We may only have 60 years of topsoil left! We say, talk to us about profit, not yield; there is no food security without financial security. Water is also a crisis to come. We need to trap water in the soil, not just obsess about carbon. It is also about nutrients and water in the soil. (Robyn came over very, very well during the conference.)

Dan Miller (Steward): The challenge is that we have wiped away tradition. We work in the south with indigenous/minority farmers: they are often the farmers more likely to be excluded yet they have been the best at hanging onto their traditions.

Day 4

Building a portfolio that fosters social equity

Malaika Maphalala, CPWA, Natural Investments

Malaika Maphalala, Certified Private Wealth Advisor, Natural Investments
This investment fund has been investing in this area for 30 years. Malaika specialises in Regenerative Investing, which is investment that directly supports the regenerative capacity of communities and ecosystems. From microfinance to sustainable agriculture, worker-owned cooperatives to renewable energy, Malaika and the other advisors help their mission-driven clients connect with investments that align with their deepest values and create positive change in the world. The investment firm also provides guidance and support in planning for trusts, charitable giving, estate transfers, tax management and addressing family dynamics related to wealth.

They look in particular at racial and gender issues and where power is placed within the potential investment opportunity. They look at much wider social equity issues than most investment companies.