Bunge Launches Program to Drive Regenerative Agriculture in Brazil

Published 2 years ago via Business Wire

The initiative will be implemented across ~615,000 acres in the Central-West and Southern Brazil.

Bunge announced the creation of a regenerative agriculture program to support Brazilian farmers in the transition to low-carbon agriculture, offering technical support, tools, products, and services, while supporting global efforts to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The program, which will be offered at no cost for farmers, promotes growth in productivity and reduction of costs through the application of cultivation best practices that improve soil fertility and health, increase CO2 storage in the ground, promote biological diversity, improve water retention and infiltration in the soil, and enhance the management of energy consumption and agricultural inputs. The program consists of three steps which are customized according to the characteristics of each property:

  • Diagnosis of the farm’s current regenerative agriculture practices;
  • Development of a customized action plan according to each diagnosis, indicating the most effective regenerative practices that can be implemented and/or improved, including offering technical assistance to the transition to sustainable agriculture; and
  • Connection to marketplace - Bunge will connect participating farmers to supply chain partners who seek sustainable products.

"The demand for sustainably produced agriculture products continues to increase, and our goal is to provide reliable and specific data so farmers can assess the need to implement additional, corrective or improvement measures that support them on their regenerative agriculture journey,” says Pamela Moreira, responsible for Sustainability in South America, Bunge.

The regenerative agriculture program already has dozens of large-scale farmers signed up, covering roughly 250,000 hectares (~615,000 acres) of land in the Brazilian States of Bahia, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Paraná, Piauí, and Tocantins.

To implement the program, Bunge has convened a team of partners who share tools and expertise with participants to support to the adoption of regenerative practices in their operations, with a focus on monitoring and measuring progress and monetizing sustainable agriculture. Orígeo, a joint venture between Bunge and UPL, is a key partner and will be working alongside the farmers by providing information and technological tools to digitize crop data, ensuring the production of high-quality, low-carbon grain, using fewer inputs and less fuel.

"We are convinced that the program will further strengthen Bunge’s connection with farmers,” says Rossano de Angelis Jr, Vice President of Agribusiness in South America, Bunge. “With the expertise of our partner Orígeo, we have a unique model of support for farmers to ensure the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of their business. Our teams continuously work to add value to our partners, and we are committed to fostering best practices across all our value chains."

About Bunge

At Bunge (NYSE: BG), our purpose is to connect farmers to consumers to deliver essential food, feed and fuel to the world. With more than two centuries of experience, unmatched global scale and deeply rooted relationships, we work to put quality food on the table, increase sustainability where we operate, strengthen global food security, and help communities prosper. As the world's leader in oilseed processing and a leading producer and supplier of specialty plant-based oils and fats, we value our partnerships with farmers to improve the productivity and environmental efficiency of agriculture across our value chains and to bring quality products from where they're grown to where they're consumed. At the same time, we collaborate with our customers to create and reimagine the future of food, developing tailored and innovative solutions to meet evolving dietary needs and trends in every part of the world. Our Company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and we have more than 23,000 dedicated employees working across approximately 300 facilities located in more than 40 countries.

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