*REPLAY* Investing in resilience: The future of regenerative agriculture in Africa

Organised by Footprints Africa

Objectives: The objective is to hold a session that outlines the pathway to scaled-up investments in African regenerative agriculture: how investors can get better-positioned and how governments can work differently to accelerate the shift. 

This is the rationale:

Regenerative agriculture is a huge business opportunity for Africa. Estimates suggest that $1 invested in land restoration can create $7 to $30 in economic benefits, while protecting biodiversity and fighting climate change.  It also makes sense as a risk mitigation strategy; approximately half of the world’s total GDP - some $44 trillion - is dependent on ecosystem services.

Regenerative agriculture at its core is about working with – and not fighting against – nature, more specifically to work in a way that soil can renew itself. We shouldn’t underestimate the implications of this. It requires changing food systems, and by extension, business models. 

What does this mean for businesses? Globally, companies with significant value chains on the continent such as Cargill, Danone, Nestlé, Olam, Pepsi,  Unilever, and Walmart have all made ambitious public commitments toward regenerative agriculture in their value chains. How far will those commitments reach? 

In this session we will bring in leaders in regenerative agriculture value chains and share insights from Footprints Africa's work to map the circular economy in food systems on the continent. 

We will draw on selected extracts from Footprints Africa’s recent report on regenerative agriculture during the session

Speakers:

Joanna Bingham, CEO, Footprints Africa (chair)

Christopher Zaw, Partner, Warc group, Sierra Leone, christopher.zaw@warcgroup.com

Kofi Debra, CEO, OKO Forests, Ghana, kofi@okoforests.com

Joseph Lentunyoi, Director, Laikipia Permaculture Centre, info@lpct.or.ke