Cisco: Financing Regenerative Agriculture: A Pathway to Healthier Soil, Cleaner Water, and Climate Resilience
Cisco Foundation highlights four partners working to support the transition to regenerative agriculture practices. The foundation committed $100 million over 10 years to fund climate solutions through nonprofit grants and impact investing. Partners include One Acre Fund, using remote sensing technology to support African farmers; Mad Agriculture, providing financial support to U.S. farmers; myAgro, developing mobile tools for West African farmers; and Miraterra, creating soil measurement technology. These initiatives aim to improve soil health, increase crop yields, enhance climate resilience, and support carbon sequestration while helping farmers overcome financial and administrative challenges in adopting regenerative practices.
La Fondazione Cisco mette in evidenza quattro partner che lavorano per supportare la transizione verso pratiche agricole rigenerative. La fondazione ha impegnato 100 milioni di dollari in 10 anni per finanziare soluzioni climatiche attraverso sovvenzioni a organizzazioni no profit e investimenti a impatto. I partner includono One Acre Fund, che utilizza la tecnologia di rilevamento remoto per supportare gli agricoltori africani; Mad Agriculture, che fornisce supporto finanziario agli agricoltori statunitensi; myAgro, che sviluppa strumenti mobili per gli agricoltori dell'Africa occidentale; e Miraterra, che crea tecnologie per la misurazione del suolo. Queste iniziative mirano a migliorare la salute del suolo, aumentare i raccolti, migliorare la resilienza climatica e supportare la cattura del carbonio, aiutando nel contempo gli agricoltori a superare le sfide finanziarie e amministrative nell'adozione delle pratiche rigenerative.
La Fundación Cisco destaca a cuatro socios que trabajan para apoyar la transición hacia prácticas agrícolas regenerativas. La fundación se comprometió a invertir 100 millones de dólares durante 10 años para financiar soluciones climáticas a través de subvenciones a organizaciones sin fines de lucro e inversiones de impacto. Los socios incluyen One Acre Fund, que utiliza tecnología de detección remota para apoyar a los agricultores africanos; Mad Agriculture, que proporciona apoyo financiero a los agricultores de EE. UU.; myAgro, que desarrolla herramientas móviles para los agricultores de África occidental; y Miraterra, que crea tecnología de medición del suelo. Estas iniciativas tienen como objetivo mejorar la salud del suelo, aumentar los rendimientos de los cultivos, mejorar la resiliencia climática y apoyar la captura de carbono, a la vez que ayudan a los agricultores a superar los desafíos financieros y administrativos en la adopción de prácticas regenerativas.
시스코 재단은 지속 가능한 농업 관행으로의 전환을 지원하기 위해 노력하고 있는 네 명의 파트너를 강조합니다. 재단은 비영리 보조금 및 임팩트 투자를 통해 기후 솔루션을 자금 지원하기 위해 10년 동안 10억 달러를 투자하기로 약속했습니다. 파트너에는 아프리카 농민들을 지원하기 위해 원격 감지 기술을 사용하는 원 에이커 펀드, 미국 농민들에게 재정 지원을 제공하는 매드 농업, 서부 아프리카 농민을 위한 모바일 도구를 개발하는 마이 아그로, 토양 측정 기술을 만드는 미라테라가 포함됩니다. 이러한 이니셔티브는 토양 건강을 개선하고, 작물 수확량을 증가시키며, 기후 회복력을 강화하고, 탄소 포집을 지원하는 동시에 농민들이 지속 가능한 관행을 채택하는 데 있어 재정적 및 관리적 문제를 극복할 수 있도록 돕는 것을 목표로 하고 있습니다.
La Fondation Cisco met en avant quatre partenaires qui travaillent à soutenir la transition vers des pratiques agricoles régénératrices. La fondation s'est engagée à investir 100 millions de dollars sur 10 ans pour financer des solutions climatiques par le biais de subventions à des ONG et d'investissements à impact. Les partenaires incluent One Acre Fund, utilisant la technologie de télédétection pour soutenir les agriculteurs africains ; Mad Agriculture, fournissant un soutien financier aux agriculteurs américains ; myAgro, développant des outils mobiles pour les agriculteurs d'Afrique de l'Ouest ; et Miraterra, créant des technologies de mesure du sol. Ces initiatives visent à améliorer la santé des sols, à augmenter les rendements des cultures, à renforcer la résilience climatique et à soutenir la séquestration du carbone, tout en aidant les agriculteurs à surmonter les défis financiers et administratifs liés à l'adoption de pratiques régénératrices.
Die Cisco Stiftung hebt vier Partner hervor, die an der Unterstützung des Übergangs zu regenerativen Landwirtschaftspraktiken arbeiten. Die Stiftung hat sich verpflichtet, 100 Millionen Dollar über 10 Jahre zur Finanzierung von Klimaslösungen durch gemeinnützige Zuschüsse und Impact-Investitionen einzusetzen. Zu den Partnern gehören One Acre Fund, das Fernsensortechnologie zur Unterstützung afrikanischer Landwirte nutzt; Mad Agriculture, das finanzielle Unterstützung für US-Landwirte bietet; myAgro, das mobile Werkzeuge für Landwirtschaft in Westafrika entwickelt; und Miraterra, das Technologien zur Bodemessung erstellt. Diese Initiativen zielen darauf ab, die Bodengesundheit zu verbessern, die Ernteerträge zu steigern, die Klimarobustheit zu erhöhen und die Kohlenstoffbindung zu unterstützen, während sie Landwirte dabei helfen, finanzielle und administrative Herausforderungen bei der Einführung regenerativer Praktiken zu überwinden.
- Cisco Foundation's $100 million commitment over 10 years for climate solutions
- myAgro farmers reported 179% increase in food production and $164 higher earnings than control group
- myAgro on track to serve 280,000 farmers across Mali, Senegal, and Côte d'Ivoire in 2024
- Mad Agriculture provided $500,000 to over 30 farmers for regenerative practices in 2024
- None.
Insights
The article discusses Cisco Foundation's
The investments in One Acre Fund, Mad Agriculture, myAgro and Miraterra represent standard corporate sustainability initiatives rather than business-critical developments. The
This news primarily serves to highlight Cisco's ESG commitments but does not materially affect the company's financial outlook or market position.
By Alex Wilkins
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 23, 2024 / Cisco Systems Inc.
Meet four Cisco Foundation partners working to support farmers' transition to regenerative practices to improve resiliency and mitigate the climate crisis.
As the world faces the impacts of climate change, such as soil degradation, biodiversity die-off, and water pollution, regenerative agriculture has emerged as a pathway to restore our relationship with the earth and the food it provides us.
Regenerative agriculture practices like cover cropping, no-till farming, and crop rotation help restore organic matter in soil, increasing its ability to retain water and nutrients. Healthy soil is not only more productive but also resilient to droughts and floods, reducing the risks for farmers and stabilizing crop yields. These practices can also enhance the soil's ability to sequester carbon, turning farms into carbon sinks rather than sources of emissions. Regenerative agricultural practices not only mitigate the climate crisis in the first place, but can also help improve farmer crop yield, increase income, and provide a buffer to climate shocks.
However, the transition to regenerative agriculture is not without challenges. The shift often comes with financial and administrative burdens, especially for smallholder farmers who are pioneering these new practices. Farmers may need to invest in new machinery, seeds for cover crops, and time to learn new techniques as well as provide evidence of their climate impact - all of which come with financial inputs. Applying for grants, loans, or subsidies to support the transition can also be time-consuming and complex, placing an additional burden on farmers already juggling the day-to-day demands of running their farms. These challenges pose barriers to widespread adoption.
In 2021, the Cisco Foundation committed US
One Acre Fund: Climate resilience for Sub-Saharan African farmers
The majority of people living in poverty around the globe are smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, who are increasingly caught between two of this century's defining challenges: extreme poverty and climate change. In Africa, these challenges are mutually reinforcing - farmers in poverty, lacking other income avenues, often resort to deforestation, land conversion, nutrient mining, and other unsustainable practices to survive. Over time, these actions degrade the environment, worsen climate change, lead to yield declines and higher risk to frequent shocks like floods and droughts. This cycle can devastate harvests, leaving smallholders without enough food for their families.
One Acre Fund (1AF) provides farmers with financing, training, and supplies to transform their harvests through a climate strategy focused on adaptation (building resilience to climate shocks) and mitigation (sustainably increasing yields and protecting resources). The strategy is based on four pillars: maximizing plant health; building soil fertility; crop and income diversity; and providing safety nets. The Cisco Foundation has supported 1AF to pioneer a new, tech-enabled approach to the data collection needed to drive this work forward at scale: remote sensing (RS).
RS technology is poised to significantly improve 1AF's ability to efficiently access and leverage robust and accurate data, enabling deepened climate resilience and impact for Africa's smallholder farmers. For example, RS data can increase the accuracy of insurance products, ensuring that farmers' investments are protected when their crops are lost to climate shocks. 1AF is using this technology to offer farmers precise field-level guidance on seed type, planting times, soil maintenance, and more, generating better results than current district-level guidance.
Mad Agriculture: Supporting Regenerative farmers in the United States
Founded in 2018, Mad Agriculture takes a holistic approach to helping farmers in the United States thrive in regenerative organic agriculture. The organization's mission is to create a regenerative revolution in agriculture, envisioning a world where land, sea, and people flourish together. Mad Agriculture offers a suite of services that help farmers and ranchers overcome technical, financial, and market barriers, and lifting their stories of success and challenge into wider society to spark cultural change.
To succeed, farming and ranching must be done in harmony with nature and the greater ecosystem. This can both reduce conventional farming's negative impact on the land and enhance the farm ecosystem, while ensuring the people involved are thriving. This agricultural revolution takes time and must be lasting, requiring more capital to address inequitable wealth distribution. Mad Agriculture engages with essential questions: What does the land need? How can agroecosystems be designed to honor people and place? And how can those caring for the land be ensured access to the resources they need?
With these questions in mind, the Cisco Foundation has funded Mad Agriculture's work with farmers across the U.S., beginning the focus predominately in the Intermountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and Southeast. Through the Regenerative Catalyst Fund, Mad Agriculture helps farmers move from planning to action, offering small grants,
myAgro - Designing mobile tools that connect farmers in West Africa with climate-smart solutions
myAgro is a nonprofit social enterprise that helps smallholder farmers in West Africa move out of poverty. With myAgro's mobile layaway platform, farmers make small payments towards climate-smart packages of seeds, fertilizer, and regenerative agriculture training that increase soil health, yields, and income - boosting climate resilience. In 2023, myAgro reported their farmers grew
Central to myAgro's model are Village Entrepreneurs (VEs) - local sales ambassadors (primarily women) who help farmers enroll for packages and make payments. Initially VEs used paper ledgers to manage sales, but they eventually needed digital tools to serve a growing number of farmers in their communities. With support from the Cisco Foundation, myAgro developed the Connect mobile app, enabling VEs to manage sales, enroll farmers, and collect payments digitally. Since then, myAgro has upgraded the app with support from Cisco to generate customer target lists, facilitate mobile money payments, and make year-round package sales among other key features.
Ultimately, Connect has enabled VEs to link exponentially more farmers with the tools they need to increase their income through regenerative agriculture. In 2024, myAgro is on track to serve more than 280,000 farmers in Mali, Senegal, and Cóte d'Ivoire.
"I was drawn to myAgro's holistic approach towards farming, which emphasized the importance of sustainable techniques and access to quality inputs. Through myAgro's training programs, I gained valuable insights into soil management, seed selection, and crop rotation, which have been instrumental in optimizing my farm's productivity." - Mercedes Coly, myAgro Farmer in Senegal
Miraterra: A completely new way to look at soil
Miraterra is transforming measurement in the food system starting with soil. With
Their technology quantifies the benefits of practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, and residue detection at the end of the harvest season. These methods improve soil health, increase farm profitability and carbon sequestration, while reducing environmental impact.
Collaborating with agricultural testing laboratories across North America, Miraterra helps growers and agronomists quantify and support healthy land practices. They are also developing AI-powered tools to correlate land practices with food nutrition and enable growers to interact with a living record of their land. By providing accurate, affordable, and rapid soil analysis, Miraterra empowers farmers to make informed decisions about soil management, ultimately contributing to improved soil health and increased carbon sequestration.
Cisco and the Cisco Foundation take a holistic approach to addressing environmental and social issues. Communities that can adapt to a changing climate have the right skills, infrastructure and economic foundation to build resilient communities that can better withstand the consequences of climate change.
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