Soil Wealth: Investing in Regenerative Agriculture Across Asset Classes

This report published in 2019 offers interesting perspectives on investing in regenerative agriculture and is applicable to philanthropy. We especially appreciated the list of five definitions of regenerative agriculture presented therein as the definition of regenerative is not fixed and depends on many factors including geographic location of farming operation, farming culture, and commodities grown. A description of the report from Croatan Institute is below. The full report can be downloaded here.

“Soil Wealth” is what we call the constellation of benefits associated with building both soil health and community wealth through regenerative agriculture.

As the investment community in the United States, particularly within the fields of sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing, shows an increasing appetite for investing in sustainable agriculture and food systems across asset classes, a subset of investors is demonstrating growing interest in financing not simply “sustainable” agriculture but agriculture that is deemed explicitly “regenerative.”

What "regenerative" means for farmers and investors remains highly in flux, but broadly it refers to holistic approaches to agricultural systems that work with natural systems to restore, improve, and enhance the biological vitality, carrying capacity, and “ecosystem services” of farming landscapes. Regenerative farming operations also aim to support the resilience of the rural communities and broader value chains in which they are situated. 

In order to advance the potential that regenerative agriculture presents in mitigating climate change, improving soil health, and building community resilience, significant capital needs to be deployed on farms, as well as across value chains. This report aims to quantify the current investment landscape surrounding regenerative agriculture and cultivate understanding of how investors can allocate investments across asset classes to further these efforts.

Based on our analyses of cash and cash equivalents, fixed income, real assets, public equity, private equity and venture capital markets, this report concludes with a series of recommendations for investors working within each asset class and for stakeholders such as foundations, policymakers, asset owners and asset managers, and regenerative agriculture practitioners.”