Regenerative Agriculture in South Africa

AgriCarbon™ is our flagship carbon farming programme that rewards farmers for sustainable land management practices. Regenerative agriculture is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases by turning soil into carbon sinks and removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

AgriCarbon 1: PD 2554 – Validation of carbon offset project plans, and verification of the actual carbon tonnage avoided or sequestered by these projects, confirms the accuracy of greenhouse gas (GHG) avoidance or sequestration claims. Carbon credits derived from offset projects can be traded on international carbon markets.

Background

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farming approach that aims to improve soil health, enhance biodiversity, and promote ecological resilience while also producing food. The basic principle of regenerative agriculture is to work with natural systems rather than against them.

A variety of farming techniques work together to build healthy soils, reduce erosion, and promote plant and animal diversity – such as crop rotation, cover cropping, intercropping, reduced tillage, and the integration of livestock. By building healthy soils, regenerative agriculture can help sequester carbon from the atmosphere, thereby contributing to efforts to mitigate climate change.

 

The Programme

AgriCarbon™ is South Africa’s leading carbon farming programme offering verified, high-quality soil carbon removals at scale, while supporting farmers on their sustainable land management journey.

The programme pays farmers for adopting improved agricultural land management practices, which limit emissions and restore organic carbon to the soil. This additional income incentivises farmers to continue to adopt regenerative agriculture practices and helps to finance the transition. Farmers use these funds to invest in new machinery necessary for regenerative agriculture and to mitigate short-term yield losses.

These removal carbon credits provide companies with a reliable method to offset their unavoidable emissions, achieve net zero goals and fund other climate initiatives.

The vision for AgriCarbon™ is to continue to push the boundaries for quality and integrity, which earns the trust of farmers and trust of the credit buyers within the carbon markets. This means going above and beyond the requirements of the Verra methodologies that ensure the essential components such as additionality, permanence, and risks and uncertainty determination. This is supported by the highest scientific rigour, and a robust soil sampling and measurement protocol.

By supporting regenerative agriculture, companies can help mitigate the impacts of climate change, promote biodiversity, and support local communities.

 

Collaboration

Underpinning the AgriCarbon™ programme’s success are partnerships with agricultural consultancies, research organisations, monitoring & evaluation service providers who work closely with our farmers to support their sustainability journey while increasing yields and decreasing inputs. 

Back to Carbon Offset Projects

Climate and environment

  • Carbon sequestration: Regenerative agriculture practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation, reduced tillage, and agroforestry can increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil. This helps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and mitigate climate change.
  • Biodiversity: Enhanced by creating suitable habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and other wildlife. This can help to restore ecosystem function and resilience.
  • Water conservation: Soil water-holding capacity is improved, reducing the need for irrigation and promoting water conservation.
  • Reduced chemical inputs: Regenerative agriculture relies on natural inputs and reduces or eliminates the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Social and economic

  • Food security: Regenerative agriculture practices can improve soil health, crop yields, and diversity, which can increase food security for local communities.
  • Economic benefits: Carbon credits generated from regenerative agriculture can provide additional income for farmers and land managers, while also incentivising sustainable land management practices.
  • Community resilience: Regenerative agriculture practices can enhance ecosystem services, such as water conservation and soil health, which can improve community resilience to climate change and other environmental stresses.

Health

  • Nutrient-dense food: The food grown on regenerative farms can have higher levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants due to the improved soil health, which leads to more nutrient dense crops.
  • Reduced exposure to toxins: The use of natural inputs reduce or eliminate the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides decreasing the amount of toxic chemicals that farmers and farm workers are exposed to, as well as the amount of chemical residues in the food that consumers eat.

Carbon Development Status

AgriCarbon™ programme has a number of PD’s in development under the Verra Carbon Standard (VCS).

  • PD 2554 is currently seeking registration and first issuance, expected Q3 2023. Second issuance expected Q1 2024.
  • PD 3394 is currently under validation: issuance expected Q3 2024