Reduce emissions in food production - with regenerative agriculture

• Measuring, balancing and reducing Scope 3 emissions in the food industry
• Generating market advantages through transparent and climate-resilient supply chains
• Supporting farmers in the transition with the first app for regenerative agriculture

Agricultural Scope 3 emissions

Depending on the source,???to???of global emissions come from food production. A significant share either way. Of these, around?80%?are attributable to?so-called Scope 3 emissions, meaning they are already generated in the supply chain, predominantly during agricultural production.

As the food industry is also taking a closer look at its impact on the climate and more and more food giants are committing to ambitious goals in the sense of science-based targets, the question of how to measure, account for and, above all, reduce these emissions is becoming increasingly urgent.

In order to bring about a significant change, it is essential that farmers along the value chain apply regenerative practices. This will massively reduce emissions, increase supply chain transparency, minimise the risk of yield loss, and ultimately return CO? legacies from the atmosphere back into the soil, the second largest carbon sink in the world.

This not only benefits our climate, but also offers opportunities to improve balance sheets, reduce risks and finally gain a competitive advantage.?

Below we provide insights how?regenerative agriculture?works in detail and how the farmers in the supply chains of your food company can successfully transition.

Regenerative agriculture: use, methods and potential

Since its industrialisation, agriculture and forestry have been major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions that drive?climate change. Many conventional agricultural practices have destroyed the topsoil, the humus layer.?This layer consists of 60% carbon, which is thereby released into the atmosphere in the form of CO?. Thus, almost?500 billion tonnes?have been released?so far by the agricultural sector alone. In addition,?40% of the world's soils are no longer fertile or are damaged, which makes them increasingly unsuitable for food production and why they need to be regenerated.?

Regenerative agriculture is a system of farming practices that sequesters carbon, promotes and enhances?biodiversity, improves soil fertility and water cycles, and increases soil nutrient density. It aims to accumulate CO? in the form of carbon in the soil and in?biomass?near the soil. Thus it reduces the concentration of CO? in the atmosphere. At the same time, regenerative practices generate higher yields in the long term, also because it increases resilience to climate disasters. This makes it one of the most important solutions in the fight against climate change as well as declining harvests and hunger.?

Especially the potential for carbon storage and reduction of emissions is interesting. It works like this: carbon is the basis of all life, including plants. Plants, in this case crops, absorb it from the atmosphere in the form of CO? and convert it through?photosynthesis, producing oxygen as a "waste product", so to speak. They use the carbon contained in CO? together with light and water to grow and bind it in their various plant components, which are decomposed by?microorganisms?over time. The plant material and thus also the CO? is stored in the soil in the form of organic material, especially humus. Some of it is decomposed so finely that it remains in the soil as permanent humus, the rest is recycled as nutrient humus and "fed" to the plants. It is estimated that between?3.5 and 11 billion tonnes of CO? can be absorbed by regenerative agriculture globally per year and stored in the form of permanent humus and vegetation.

Regenerative methods

There are a variety of regenerative methods that can be applied depending on the area, the region and the type of farm. The main aim is to cultivate crop rotations, reduce?tillage?and guarantee year-round?soil?cover. The various regenerative methods are diverse and can be used individually, which makes them suitable for all farmers. The goal is always the same: Increasing the humus content.?

Some specific examples of?regenerative methods?are:

1. Catch Crops

• Are used between the main crop and provide more life in the soil, a better soil structure and an optimal nutrient supply
• Weeds, diseases, and pests are suppressed naturally?

2. Cover Crops

• Help to green the field all year round.
• Usually incorporated into main crops such as cereals, maize or rape.
• Usually consist of a mixture of grasses,?grain legumes?and cruciferous plants.

3. Agroforestry

• Land use systems in which woody plants are combined with arable crops or pasture grassland on one area
• Protects the field from weather formation, reduces fertiliser and pesticide consumption

4. Rotational Grazing?

• As the name suggests, animals are moved around the pasture to improve the health of the soil, plants and livestock
• Only part of the pasture is grazed at a time, while the rest of the pasture is "resting". The pasture is divided into different areas for this purpose

5. Silvopastoral Systems

• Land use systems combining woody plants with pasture and livestock on one site
• This has multiple environmental benefits over open-air grazing systems: increased biodiversity, protection from climate extremes, and reduction of?soil erosion.

More than just emissions offsetting?

The use of regenerative methods not only pays off in terms of?climate protection. Regenerative methods result in a significantly reduced need for pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers and thus have a positive impact on biodiversity.?

The build-up of the humus layer is also central, as it increases the water storage capacity of the soil, making it much more resilient to climatic disasters such as drought, which in turn results in increased and stable yield security. The topsoil also serves as filter and ensures that no pollutants enter the groundwater.?

Moreover, initial preliminary studies already show that the?quality of the food produced is increased in the medium to long term, as the nutrient density is higher?than in conventionally produced food.?

Realisation, measurement and balancing with Klim?

We enable companies from the food industry to jointly address the reduction of Scope 3 emissions with the help of regenerative agriculture in order to effectively achieve the climate targets set.?

Our offer is insetting, i.e. reducing greenhouse gas emissions in your own value chain. We support farmers who produce the raw materials for your company in making the switch. Regenerative agriculture also provides a decisive advantage in view of increasing climate disasters and rising fertiliser costs.

The accounting and progress of the supply chain transformation can be tracked at any time through impact monitoring and communicated transparently with stakeholders.

In order to fully exploit the potential of regenerative agriculture and to scale it up as quickly as possible, we have developed the first digital platform specifically for regenerative agriculture. It enables farmers to convert their farms easily and lucratively.

The Klim app offers farmers the following functions and solutions:

• Documentation functions specifically geared to regenerative agriculture
• Certification and payment of farmers on the basis of a points system
• Prepared and personalised knowledge
• Exchange functions with other regenerative farmers
• Access to improved prices for regenerative inputs

Scaling regenerative agriculture is part of Klim's DNA and so our model is also consistently designed for scalability. The Klim app is internationally expandable and applicable and has high growth potential due to its low-threshold approach.?

We look forward to an exchange if the topic is relevant for your company!