Both by Ring #18 - Finding new agricultural models for a fair environmental transition
Featured with Sebastien Boyer, Co-founder & Chairman @FarmWise
Dear community,
It has not escaped to your notice that the European Union is facing an agricultural crisis. And while we are falling behind in the fight against climate change, decision-makers are increasingly reluctant to continue imposing ecological standards on farmers. As illustrated by France’s desire to go back on its trajectory to limit the use of chemical inputs (the ‘Ecophyto 2030’ plan).
But since when do we pit supporting farmers against preserving the environment?
It is clear that we cannot continue to produce without protecting our farmers. But can we without protecting our biodiversity and soils? It is high time to rethink our agricultural models, starting with overhauling the agricultural value chain (the ecological transition cannot rely on farmers alone!) and adopting regenerative models (a trendy — but very interesting — concept).
As investors, it is our duty to fund and support solutions that have a positive impact on our society and our environment. And these solutions already exist!
In this month’s newsletter, Sebastien Boyer, co-founder of FarmWise, presents two of the levers to help farmers adapt to the environmental transition: adopting technological tools and optimising the use of chemical inputs. For those who thought that AI’s sole purpose was to help you write your reports and to make politicians sing pop songs: read on!
The interview
'To make a substantial impact, the key is to identify the economic levers that are aligned with impact'
Sebastien Boyer, Co-founder & Chairman @FarmWise
How central was the environmental impact to your mission?
The environmental impact was our initial motivation. We wanted to address the extensive use of agricultural chemicals and their effects on health, biodiversity and the environment. But to make a tangible impact, we recognised early that this environmental issue had to be translated into an economic problem to attract customers — in this case farmers. I suppose this is the case for many impact issues but, in agriculture, the environmental issue is obviously important, because it directly affects farmers' activities. Even though the primary incentives remain those linked to profit, especially as farmers do not generate a great deal of profit and therefore cannot afford to take initiatives that are not aligned with economic performance. Apart from the environmental issue, another major challenge for the sector is the lack of workforce. We realised that these two problems were linked and that we needed to have a global vision to help farmers modernise and be more efficient with a solution that met their short-term economic constraints (making more profit, or losing less money) and at the same time build an infrastructure that would make their business more viable in the long term. So there was always this dual focus: developing solutions with environmental sustainability and economic viability. It's a personal conviction of mine, and I think it ought to be applied to all impact companies: the key is to identify the economic levers that are aligned with impact, and play on those economics.
Ring ecosystem’s insights
“Ensuring High-Integrity Regenerative Agriculture Programmes” — Andrew Voysey, Chief Impact Officer at Soil Capital
In this article, Soil Capital, a company which rewards farmers for reducing their carbon footprint and for the ecosystem services they provide, discusses the role of regenerative agriculture programmes in mitigating climate change and how to ensure their long-term success.
Ring news
Talking about regenerative… our podcast Beyond Impact’s new episode focuses on this concept and its applications in the economic world.
With Sarah Dubreil (entrepreneur & researcher who co-authored a report for Bpifrance on the subject), Antoine Denoix (CEO of AXA Climate, which trains major groups in regenerative approaches) and Guillaume Desnoes (co-founder of Alenvi, a company with a regenerative approach), we discuss a range of topics: from new governance mechanisms with investors to examples of companies that have embarked on a regenerative path.
🎧 Listen to the podcast on:
New comer in Ring’s community: Hiboo
Ring Mission, Ring Capital's VC fund, is delighted to announce its participation in the 9,3m€ fundraising in Hiboo, alongside Emerald Technology Ventures, Nabtesco, ISAI Build Venture, Future Industry Ventures and Citizen Capital.
While it is essential that the construction industry adopts more sustainable practices to reduce its CO2 emissions, the sector is also facing uncertainties about energy prices and availability. By collecting data on manufacturers’ fleets, Hiboo enables them to access indicators on the use and operation of their equipment (consumption, anomalies, etc.) and measure their actual CO2 emissions.
This investment is our second in the construction sector — a sector with a particularly high carbon footprint, and one in which the environmental transition will be key to achieving our CO2 reduction target. The Ring team is very excited to take part in this effort. 💪
Top reads and ressources
🔎 Challenges & solutions for allocating greenhouse gas mitigation outcomes
🔮 Here’s your life in 2040 — if the EU’s climate plan works
🌱 Regenerative agriculture sparks venture capital interest
See you next month ✌🏼