Nestlé to invest $1.3bn in supporting regenerative food system transition
Nestlé has said it is making efforts to support and accelerate the transition to a regenerative food system as part of its contribution to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Subsequently, the company will pump investments worth $1.3 billion (CHF 1.2 billion) over the next five years to spark regenerative agriculture across its supply chain, using three primary levers to help farmers adopt regenerative practices.
With this fund, Nestle will apply ultramodern science and technology practices and tools to provide technical assistance leveraging its vast network of R&D experts and agronomists, offer investment support since the transition comes with initial risks and new costs, and also pay premiums for regenerative agriculture goods which will reward farmers for quantity & quality of ingredients, and benefits provided to the environment through soil protection, water management, and carbon seizure.
Nestlé will also offer agricultural training and help farmers exchange information and best practices that can be adapted locally while co-investing with them, facilitating lending or helping them obtain loans for specific equipment, and funding pilot projects to test and learn how best to advance regenerative agriculture.
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“We know that regenerative agriculture plays a critical role in improving soil health, restoring water cycles and increasing biodiversity for the long term, these outcomes form the foundation of sustainable food production and, crucially, also contribute to achieving our ambitious climate targets,” Paul Bulcke, Chairman Board of Directors, Nestlé said.
He added that Nestlé’s regeneration effort aims to protect and restore the environment through enhancement of biodiversity, soil conservation, regeneration of water cycles, and integration of livestock, hence it is taking measures to halve its emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050.
Bulke added that The program will be launched under its generation regeneration initiative focused on farmers, youth, consumers, and its own employees and will improve the livelihoods of farmers while enhancing the well-being of farming communities.
To further promote regenerative agricultural practices, Nestle in the last 3 years distributed over 600,000 shade trees that protect cocoa trees and store carbon in the soil, improving biodiversity and encouraged farm crop diversification by providing 7,000 fruit crop seedlings to be integrated into cocoa farms.
In Central and West Africa, Nestlé’s focus is to ensure the supply of local agricultural materials, create inclusive livelihoods for smallholder farmers (SHFs), women and youth while protecting environmental resources.
Since 2015, we have been able to impact more than 56,000 beneficiaries under our Grains Plan in Nigeria and Ghana through mentorship, training on agricultural practices, and provision of inputs
The FMCG giant will work with its food system partners, including the company’s network of more than 500,000 farmers and 150,000 suppliers, to advance regenerative farming practices at the heart of the food system and also initiate new programs to help address the social and economic challenges of the transition.
Furthermore, to support young people who are passionate about farming, Nestlé will launch a training platform in November to attract and train the next generation of farmers. The training will focus on regenerative agriculture practices and improving the resilience of farms to climate change for more than 40,000 farmers participating in one of Nestlé’s agripreneurship programs.