Wildfarmed and Lloyds Banking Group has announced a new funding scheme to accelerate regenerative farming transitions.
The Food & Nature Resilience Fund comes as the Green Finance Institute, along with Defra and HM Treasury, estimates that ecosystem decline could amount to a 12% decline in GDP over the next decade.
The fund will incentivise farmers to make positive improvements to nature recovery without compromising economic out comes. According to the partners, it is the first scheme of its kind to not view these two outcomes as competing aims.
It will enable investment from banks, utility companies, insurers and other businesses to be used to accelerate regenerative practices. Among the first organisations to be involved are Severn Trent and Affinity Water, as well as AXA XL.
Ben Makowiecki, agriculture sustainability director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “As the UK’s largest agricultural lender, we have a responsibility to support farmers during this transition. By bringing together businesses with a stake in resilient farming, healthy soils, clean water and thriving natural ecosystems, this fund can help set in motion the pace of change needed to scale regenerative agriculture across the UK while creating a more reliable financial model for farmers.
“This partnership builds on our broader support for farmers through our Agricultural Transition Finance proposition, which rewards the adoption of regenerative practices, as well as our established partnership with Soil Association Exchange, with Exchange Market focused on removing carbon from the food supply chain, and the Routes to Regen initiative.”
Andy Cato, co-founder at Wildfarmed, commented: “Historically, our food system has priced nature at zero. The consequences of this are everywhere, from food price inflation to the fragility of the ecosystems on which we all depend.”
“Nature and food production are too often seen in opposition, with payment schemes forcing farmers to choose one or the other. Yet a resilient, abundant future depends on nature-rich food-producing land. For many years, it has been an ambition for farmers to be rewarded for delivering nature and resilience whilst growing food, not instead of it. This partnership is a big step forward in making this a reality at scale.”