As we wrap up 2024, we reflect on a year that brought hope but also served as a wake-up call. With skyrocketing temperatures, droughts, fires, and floods, the challenges have been immense. But we were very lucky that we—both online and offline— had the chance to come together with many of the pioneers and builders in regenerative agriculture and food. At the same time, we were reminded that we, as part of nature, are at war with extractive forces.
LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION ON:
Ambitious entrepreneurs: our favorites
Among the most-listened episodes of the year, Martin Reiter and Eric Smith took the top spots.
With Martin Reiter, a former senior manager at Airbnb and Wayfair and author of Agricultural Primer 2024, we discussed his excitement about regeneration, where the Steve Jobs and Elon Musk of regenerative agriculture are going to build companies, and how we can attract more talent into this space. Eric Smith, CEO and co-founder of Edacious, is building a technology platform to differentiate food quality. We explored measuring quality and transforming one of the most complex systems—from one driven by chemicals to one driven by biology, with abundance as an outcome. According to Eric, the key is radical transparency.
Every CEO and high-ranking manager working in food companies should be obligated to visit the farms and farmers they source from. So many decisions in the board rooms would be taken differently according to Heather Terry, CEO and founder of GoodSam Foods, with whom we discuss how an exit from a chocolate company led to a female-led consumer goods company, how education of consumers is key, networks versus chains, multi-crop sourcing.
Seeds, it all starts with seeds (and soil) but mostly seeds. Our current seed system is fundamentally incapable of producing seeds adapted to local niches, weather, flavor, or nutrients. Instead, it caters exclusively to large-scale monoculture systems. But 97% of global farmers don’t operate large monocultures, and 70% of our food comes from them. So, who grows seeds for these farmers? Nicolas Enjalbert founded SeedLinked, an innovative company digitizing collaborative breeding.
How can we use technology to enable complexity rather than reducing everything to monoculture, as we’ve done for decades? Chris Bloomfield and Daniel Reisman, co-founders of Collie, are enabling regenerative dairy with their virtual cow guidance system. We discussed how virtual fencing and cow guidance can reduce labor and boost production.Full disclosure: we invested with our syndicate Generation-Re in GoodSam Foods, SeedLinked, and Collie, as well as Wildfarmed and Dirty Clean Food mentioned later on.
The many Elephants in the Room
Ecocide is broadly understood as the mass damage and destruction of ecosystems – severe harm to nature which is widespread or long-term. Jojo Mehta, Executive Director of Stop Ecocide International, argued that criminalizing ecocide could change societal consciousness, bringing it into the realm of things we simply don’t do.
“Ecology without social justice is just gardening”, said Laura Ortiz Montemayor, co-founder of SVX Mexico and managing partner at Regenera Ventures. She highlighted Latin America’s critical role in climate resilience and discussed how blending indigenous wisdom with innovative finance can bridge the gap between social justice and ecology.
“Deeper than the issues around food is the crisis around land”. The rising cost of land, disconnected from its productive value, has made it inaccessible for younger farmers. In the U.S., where the average farmer is 62 years old, the crisis is urgent. Ian McSweeney and Kristina Villa, joined us from The Farmers Land Trust and shared why fundamental land ownership change into the commons is gaining momentum in traditionally very slow-moving spaces.
Role and legacy of farmers
Farmers as role models. According to Cindie Christiansen and Analisa Winther, founder of Top 50 Farmers, argued one way to change the status quo where farming is not desirable is to put the pioneering regenerative farmers, in the spotlight by connecting them with resources, peers and and even corporations, they aim to turn regen farming into a movement and change the public narrative.
“Farmers die slowly,” said Sebastiaan Huisman, reflecting on his journey from a Dutch farm to consulting on large farm transitions, including work with a royal family and Wildfarmed.
Innovation in water cycle restoration
Building towers to trigger rain, to help nature sweat and cool sounds like sifi but Jesús Areso Salinas, a retired European Patent Office examiner, is dead serious as we discovered in our conversation. He shared his innovative design for building katabatic towers to trigger rain, helping landscapes cool and regenerate. Ali Bin Shahid, one of the few experts globally who can model and calculate water cycle restoration, explained how to quantify concepts like slowing, spreading, and soaking water. What does “slow” actually mean? How do we measure it—by kilometres per hour, or some other metric? How much regeneration is required and where to restore rivers or trigger rains in a given landscape?
Money, Money, Money
Do You Remember the Dutch Farming Protests? What seems to be really missing in many of the countries where farmers protest are clear transition paths, with numbers, how much investment is needed per hectare to transition a dairy farm in the centre of the Netherlands? Or a potato farm in Germany etc. Many regen pioneers in the field—rightfully focused on innovation—didn’t keep detailed records of inputs, costs, machinery, or, most importantly, hours. So how do we go about it? Start and really keep track of numbers, Maarten van Dam shared for example that the investment costs of transitioning to a diverse perennial agroforestry system in the centre Netherlands, are around €50,000 per hectare and can take about seven years. This estimate includes wholesale prices, tracks all labor hours, and ensures fair wages. It sounds like a lot but it also means transitioning the whole farming sector of the Netherlands will require an investment of ‘only’ €150B, just the teachers pension fund in the Netherlands manages over €500B.
Paying Farmers to Change Practices
Soil Capital completed a €15 million Series B funding round. With CEO and co-founder Chuck de Liedekerke, we explored their approach to paying farmers for ecosystem services—a strategy that seems to have hit an inflection point in the last two years.
On the same topic, why are companies like Nestlé, Microsoft, and Shell investing in carbon credits? Henk Mooiweer, co-founder of Grassroots Carbon, argues that now is the time for ranchers to sign up—not later—to capitalize on these opportunities. But where does the science behind regenerative grazing stand? What about methane emissions? And why is this conversation ultimately not just about carbon?
Investment in the Regenerative Revolution
Mark Lewis, managing partner at Trailhead Capital, has shifted his focus from seeking unicorns in the regenerative space to believing in the inevitability of a “regenerative revolution”, and aiming for many really good financial exits. Having invested nearly half of a $50 million VC fund into North American regenerative businesses, Mark shared his lessons learned, emphasizing the potential for both financial and non-financial returns and what he would love to invest in but hasn’t yet.
“Regeneration is a long-term investment, not a short-term cost,” according to Sonja Stuchtey, co-founder of The Landbanking Group: viewing and accounting for regeneration as an investment unlocks its transformative potential.
Building New Industries
In our Regenerative Aquaculture series, supported by The Nest Family Office, Sowmya Balendiran, co-founder of Sea6 Energy shares her journey of transforming seaweed farming into a scalable industry. Starting with 1,000 football fields of tropical seaweed in Indonesia, Sea6 Energy is proving that seaweed can play a crucial role in sustainable aquaculture, providing food, biofuel, and other products while regenerating ocean ecosystems. In other episodes we cover the fascinating world of salmon with all its issues and opportunities, the king of sustainable protein mussels, salt water plants, and ranching sea urchins to save kelp forests.
Agroforestry in the US Midwest: The Belly of the Beast
Trees are the answer—whatever the question may be. But how do you create an agroforestry industry in the American Midwest, a region dominated by corn and soy monocultures, where farmland leases last only 1–3 years, and trees are virtually nonexistent? This area desperately needs trees—not just as carbon sequestration tools, but for climate adaptation, erosion control, wind breaks, nutrient retention, crop protection, and integrated food production. Kevin Wolz, CEO of Canopy Farm Management and former founder of the Savanna Institute, explains the challenges and strategies of introducing agroforestry to this landscape.
How do we plant millions of trees? How do we finance them? And how do we convince key stakeholders to invest in a system with such long time horizons? Farmers must commit to granting agroforestry operators access to their land for 20, 40, or even 100 years. Investors must write checks for hundreds of millions into an unfamiliar industry—one where crops like chestnuts may take 7–9 years to bear fruit but could continue producing for 50 to100 years or more. Brett Hundley, a former equity analyst looking at companies like Tyson Foods and now partner at Agroforestry Partners, shares how he’s building investor confidence and financing large-scale tree planting initiatives.
A bit further south, in Brazil, Fernando Russo is diving deep in the coffee and cacao agroforestry systems. With one of the most active impact investors in the regenerative space, who by the way also partially financed our recent video course, we explored deforestation, reforestation, the role of cattle and, of course, the potential and why he is in the water camp, not the carbon camp.
Start with the Chefs and Soil Health
IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT PEACH. How can we ensure farmers are fairly paid for cultivating exceptional produce pumpkins or peaches? Franco Fubini believes it begins with creating demand for flavor—and much of that demand comes from the world’s top chefs. For 20 years Franco Fubini’s company, Natoora, has been connecting farmers to over 2,000 leading restaurants and select supermarkets. By emphasizing radical seasonality, Natoora challenges the conventional idea of four seasons, recognizing that nature provides a unique harvest every day of the year—365 seasons in total.
Award-winning chef Anthony Myint, co-founder of Zero Foodprint, disappointed by the limited impact of better sourcing practices on acres of farmland, is now fully committed to transforming the food system and believes the key lies in opt-out mechanisms, which when done on a county or regional or even country level enables a lot funding to flow to new hectares and new regenerative practices. Just like the renewable energy space has shown us, let’s learn from them and drive systems change.
It all starts with soil. Can we directly link soil health to nutrient density in food? Thanks to Dan Kittredge’s pioneering research, the answer is yes. His findings challenge many assumptions about local, organic, and even regenerative farming practices. While regenerative agriculture often claims to produce nutrient-dense food, this is only true if it leads to healthier soil—and, in some cases, it doesn’t. Dan shared the shocking reality: many crops score alarmingly low on nutrient density compared to their potential. The pessimist might see this as a sign of depleted crops and failing systems, but the realist—or optimist—sees opportunity. Some crops could be 10x or even 20x more nutrient-dense with proper soil health practices. The challenge now is to unlock this potential. With Yasmine Cathell we discussed the latest on soil and nutrient science.
… and why manufactured food is not the solution. Together with farmer and author Chris Smaje, we explored a future where cheap fossil fuels are no longer available and the pathways forward for agriculture and society. Smaje argues that manufactured food is not the answer. Instead, the focus must shift toward resilient, decentralized systems rooted in ecological principles and soil health.
Consumer brands driving change and educating consumers
Matthijs Westerwoudt, founder of Wilderland, is redefining the role of native plants—often dismissed as weeds— by transforming them into highly desirable products..These plants are now the foundation for delicious drinks, herbal teas, kombuchas, fermented teas, and even pasta. Wilderland not only enhances biodiversity but also pays farmers more per square metre than they would earn from any other crop, proving that farming for nature can also be profitable.
After 23 years in finance, Edd Lees traded numbers for soil and bread, joining forces with a famous DJ and a TV presenter to create Wildfarmed. We talked about how you go from serving hip and expensive bakers in London to making your own bread and getting it on supermarket shelves while educating consumers about regenerative practices, just follow them on instagram to see what I mean.
How does CrowdFarming educate consumers that a farm is not a screw factory, and that every fruit is different? Delivery times depend on harvests and weather. Juliette Simonin shares how they are now reaching over 400.000 customers and how they keep them engaged in the growing process while educating them about the realities of farming,
Jay Albany, CEO of Dirty Clean Food, shares what it takes to build a successful direct-to-consumer business—essentially buying from regenerative farmers and delivering to consumers, restaurants, etc.—, operating from Perth, the most remote city on the planet. So many people have gone before them and failed, so what is making this work?
Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer: A New Format
We experimented with a new format this year: Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer. By literally walking the fields alongside regenerative farmers and recording those conversations. Special thanks to Matteo Mazzola, Felipe Pasini, and Andres Jara, of Iside Farm, Amadeco Syntropic Farm and De Stadsgroenteboer market garden for opening their fields and sharing their journey with us.
LEGENDS
REGENERATIVE EDUCATION IS THE ANSWER. What does regenerative education mean, and why is it so powerful to focus on educating people? Eduard Müller, founder of University for International Cooperation (UCI) makes a very strong case against trying to convince the people entrenched in power- those in industry, chemical and fertilizer companies, ultra-processed food giants or large institutions like the UN. He has tried and failed, and he truly believes in education and unlearning. That is why he started his own university, which has since pioneered online education in regeneration, starting as early as 1998, focusing on scaling regeneration in Costa Rica and showing the numbers and data behind it to reach the tipping point. We talk about his journey, his inflection points and what abundance during COVID has to do with it.
We had such a wide-ranging conversation- we decided to split it in two episodes- with Henry Dimbleby, founder of Bramble Partners, co founder of LEON, writer of the food strategy for the UK. Henry shared what it was like to help manage the UK during the covid COVID-19 crisis, particularly the challenges of keeping supermarket shelves stocked. Why and how he wrote the food strategy and why it wasn’t implemented. Plus, a deep dive into the junk food cycle, and the crazy ultra-processed food addiction we all, or mostly, have fallen victim to. And finally, how loving lentils can change everything.
THE RETURN OF INSPIRATION AND A LONG-TERM VISION. With Willem Ferwerda, co-founder of Commonland, we explored the vital role of inspiration and vision in landscape restoration. Willem emphasized the importance of bringing together farmers, real estate developers, nature conservationists, and local politicians to create a shared, 20- to 30-year vision for their landscapes. No one wants to live in a dying landscape—where biodiversity has vanished, communities have emptied, schools have closed, and shops have shut down. By inspiring people to reimagine their environments, Commonland seeks to spark collective action for vibrant, thriving ecosystems. He even sees the first signs that the financial sector is beginning to invest in green infrastructure—not concrete and asphalt, but healthy soils, thriving ecosystems, and resilient communities.
INVESTING AS IF GREAT GRANDCHILDREN MATTERED. With second-generation high-density, low-duration herder, Chris Henggeler of Kachana Station, the custodian for 77’500 ha located in remote rugged upper catchments of Kimberley river-systems in Australia, we explored macro herds above soils and micro herds below soils, the function as gardener of the herbivore in a semi dry country, the big myth that many animals damage the land, how to rehydrate landscapes, grounding investing in ecology and, finally, how human activity is restraining nature from building wealth.
We had the great pleasure to have Scott Poynton, founder of the Forest Trust, now known as the Earthworm Foundation, on our show sharing about supply chains, environmental regeneration and addressing environmental scandals through his work with major corporations like Nestlé on no-deforestation commitments. His motto never waste a crisis but don’t follow ambulances
What does it mean to produce deeply regenerative chicken and eggs? Clare Hill and Annie Rayner, experts in poultry welfare and regenerative agriculture transition pioneers in the UK, are working on the counter-narrative to industrialised chicken. We have bred birds to be either egg or meat birds, and that is incredibly inefficient and horrible for animal welfare, plus the poultry industry has a lot of issues, from lockdowns because of bird flu to feeding because these aren’t ruminants, so they can’t just graze. With them we dove deep where to start when you want to integrate livestock as a farmer.
The untapped potential of AI and tools
THE TOOLS FOR THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE. Hands and usually backbreaking work. Smaller-scale, diversified farms have historically relied on hard, labor-intensive work, often involving entire villages during harvest time. Today, this is no longer feasible in many parts of the world. What are the machinery and tools needed? David Brunmayr of Organic Tools is working on creating innovative solutions to make the diverse farms of the future possible.
How can AI transform agriculture responsibly? Abby Rose, co-founder of Vidacycle and Farmerama, questioned the tendency of startups to pursue endless funding rounds, often leading to extractive models. Yet, despite her reservations, she raised funds—on her own terms. Instead of traditional venture capital, she used a revenue-sharing model with service fees and caps, to make sure it aligns with her long term vision for the company.
Not only the global north (although we dislike the term)
Supporting 100,000 farmers in Ghana and beyond that have 10 harvest left. Smallholder maize farmers at the edge of the Sahara, brutal circumstances in the Sahel mean most farmers are growing to eat and to survive and, with climate change and current farming practices of burn and deep tilling, their survival is literally on the line. These soils can be depleted in a decade or less, not like in the global North where we might have 50 to 60 harvests left. Behavioral change is crucial, but how do you encourage it without risking the already fragile livelihoods of these farmers? Warc Africa, a Ghana-based agricultural service provider, is finding the answers. After successfully closing a $7.5 million Series B round last March, Warc is on track to serve over 100,000 farmers in Ghana, helping to increase their incomes and protect their soils. We had WARC’s founder Emiliano Mroue on the show!
Africa holds immense potential for regenerative agriculture. With Joachim Ewechu and Hannes Van den Eeckhout, co-founders of Rootical, we explored why the venture studio model is an exciting and powerful approach for driving change on the continent.
In another conversation, Keith Agoada, CEO and co-founder of Producers Trust, underscored the importance of investing in supply chain infrastructure. By improving processing, sorting, and packaging, small-scale farmers can capture more value from their crops, increasing income while supporting regenerative practices.
Milestones & Highlights
Celebrating 300 Episodes and Launching Generation-Re
In May 2024, we hit a major milestone: our 300th podcast episode. What began as a simple coffee conversation with the late Tony Lovell of SLM Partners has grown beyond our wildest dreams into a thriving platform where we can connect people, ideas, and solutions across the regenerative landscape. The podcast has become a true bridge, connecting people and ideas.
But we were missing “skin in the game”, it is great to talk to and about great companies moving the needle in the regenerative space but even better is putting our money where our mouth is. So we founded Generation-Re Syndicate (together with Naeem Lakhani, a huge shoutout to Antony Yousefian, Emily Broughton and Samuel Pachigar for their support).
As of today, Generation-Re:
- has invested in 25 deals, for a total amount of €1.2 million invested.
- Recently closed its largest deal yet: €100,000 with Antler Bio (interview with Maria Jansen is coming soon!).
The Regenerative Mind series
2024 has also been the year in which the Regenerative Mind series, supported by Mustardseed Trust, and hosted by Emma Chow came to an end. With Emma we learned why the mind is like soil and how we can adopt a systems-thinking lens, which is imperative for system change.
It’s great to be on this journey with people like Peter Byck, together with Corien Botman we organize the first screening of the Roots so Deep documentary outside the US in Rotterdam last June, and Judith D Schwartz and Alpha Lo, with whom I shared my personal story through Soil Centric and Climate Water Project platforms.
Major Highlights of the Year
- RFSI Europe: The first edition of RFSI Europe in Brussels was a resounding success as somebody described it as ‘walking around in Koen’s podcast’. We’re excited to join the second edition, happening on the 26/27 of February 2025. Don’t forget to book early—use code KOEN10 for 10% off.
- Groundswell Ag (also mark the 2025 edition in your agenda, July 2/3rd!) and a memorable Fireside Chat with John Kempf, who stated: “The incumbent agronomy system has the benefit of history, the benefit of being the status quo, and the benefit of being easy. If it were not for those things, it would probably be illegal.”
As we look ahead, here’s to a regenerative, nutritious, and peaceful year for us all.
Let’s continue to build, work, invest, and regenerate together!
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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.