Jason Hayward-Jones, founder and managing director of REGENFARM Ltd, joins us to discuss how altering the behaviour of water and utilising AI can contribute to designing revolutionary landscape designs.
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THIS EPISODE IS PART OF THE LANDSCAPE TECH SERIES. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IT HERE!
What can we get by altering the behaviour of water? How does AI technology contribute to the success of landscape designs? What kind of technology is needed to scale regen ag to a landscape level? How does Yeomans’ Keyline contribute to REGENFARM’s regeneration vision?
Yeomans’ Keyline System
REGENFARM firmly believes in the significance of water in the agricultural food production industry. As water is easier to manipulate compared to other elements, they found out that identifying the part of the landscape where water’s behaviour changes is key. Now, what they do is incorporate AI technology, Yeomans’ keyline system and many other principles to rehydrate degraded landscapes.
“A wise man once told me that there are only eight ingredients to any food production system anywhere on earth, and they are explained to me in order of magnitude: sun, air, soil, water, plants, animals, people and money.” – Jayson Hayward-Jones
Technology and Algorithms
For accuracy’s sake, as REGENFARM deals with hundreds of thousands hectares of land, they acquire data to identify the “key points” in order to place their design on massive landscapes in a way that would alter the behaviour of water. Together with some local knowledge, they heavily use technology for data, algorithms, satellites, etc. Their ongoing project is a land in Northern Nigeria, in which the land is flat, arid, very low in organic matter, and prone to erosion.
“So we continued to develop the algorithm and inserted additions like agroforestry lines and water channels, and water storage areas.” – Jayson Hayward-Jones
Why Simulations Matter
Technology not only plays a massive role in the accuracy of RegenFarm’s landscape designs, but also in convincing the farmers to go regenerative and in showing financial investors an actual image of what the company visualises. These simulations show the impact of these projects in the environment and economy. RegenFarm’s ultimate goal is to keep on replicating and expanding so they can have bigger contributions in fighting against climate change and in supporting farmers’ livelihood.
“So these big projects are of interest because they can pour a lot of climate finance funding into it and, in return, conserve biodiverse areas and help local farmer livelihoods. It’s just a great package you can offer.” – Jayson Hayward-Jones
Unlocking Limitless Potentials
One of the most important things about RegenFarm’s way of designing landscapes is the fact that they don’t harm anything with the process, not even a single tree. Also, in order to succeed in designing landscapes, it is necessary properly scale the measurement of water flows and carbon sequestration, put the data in a machine learning tool, and fully understand how ecosystems and natural systems work. All these processes pose limitless potential in rehydrating degraded landscapes.
“We also get data from the project itself and feedback into our algorithm, so it sharpens up, we can learn from it, and therefore, the designs in other places are more accurate. So for us, it’s a long term engagement.” – Jayson Hayward-Jones
Other Points Discussed
Koen and Jayson also talked about:
- how people should get rid of their fear of change so we can finally explore the possibilities technology offers;
- how we should invest in educating ourselves and focus on soil, water, and farming; and
- how there is money and revenue from regenerative ag.
To know more about Jayson Hayward-Jones and REGENFARM Ltd, download and listen to this episode.
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The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.