SILVOPASTURE: ENGAGING CATTLE RANCHERS IN REGENERATIVE AMAZON PRODUCTION
December 6th, 2022 at 3:30pm ET
Silvopasture engages small, mid- and large size cattle ranchers in profitable and sustainable/regenerative production systems. This discussion will inform investors, philanthropists, and corporate buyers about silvopasture as a strategy to increase food productivity on degraded land, and to avoid deforestation, while generating positive environmental and social externalities. This session will showcase pioneering startups and social businesses that are running silvopasture initiatives.
Fernando Russo
Meraki Impact
Fernando Russo is the founder and manager of Meraki Impact, an impact investment fund in the Netherlands focused on regenerative agriculture and the bioeconomy. Over the last six years he has made more than 30 investments aimed at systemic change in agriculture and food production. Meraki Impact started with the mission to guide a single family office into aligning all the investments with the sustainable goals Today we also manage the family`s deep impact portfolio with the mission to catalyze investments to regenerate the planet and save what is left of our forests. We believe in the power of soils and biodiversity as a natural solution to mitigate climate change, so through our deep impact portfolio we look for funds and entrepreneurs making regenerative agriculture mainstream and changing our food systems to regenerative. The investment opportunities we find and take through our careful due diligence process are invested by our own private funds and we support the investees in catalyzing more capital to their initiatives. Based in the Netherlands and serving a single family office in Brazil, we build a bridge between capital and innovation connecting Europe to high biodiversity areas of Latin America.
Luiz Fernando Laranja
Caaporã / No Carbon Milk
Luis Fernando Laranja is Kaeté Investimentos managing partner and co-founder. Laranja has 25 years of experience in business development and consulting for food and pharmaceutical industries. Within the Brazil program of the Lab, he developed the Socio-Climate Benefits Fund. The instrument invests and provides technical assistance to restore degraded lands in smallholders’ farms with agroforestry systems and, at the same time, developing and facilitating sales of their products. The concept is currently being used by the anchor company Caaporã. Laranja holds a postdoc degree from University of Kentucky, a master in Agronomy by Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ/USP), a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the Faculty of veterinary medicine and Zootechny of the University of São Paulo and a graduate degree in Agribusiness Management from University of Lavras.
Thiago Nogueira
Cumbaru
Meet Cumbaru Productive Partnertships (CPP), a social business working on food production challenges such as deforestation, carbon emissions, pasture degradation, financial access, agricultural efficiency, and more. The CPP business model restores pasture through agroforestry and sustainable management of native bioeconomy products. CPP helps ranchers with investment readiness and technical assistance while improving production efficiencies in degraded areas, reducing deforestation pressure, and improving the carbon balances of food production systems.
Pedro Nogueira
Amazon Investor Coalition
Pedro Nogueira is a biologist with a master’s degree in Sustainable Development Practice from Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and an MBA in Social Business Management from Ecological Research Institute (IPÊ) and University of Sao Paolo (USP). Pedro has 10 years of experience in sustainable zero deforestation and conversion of agricultural supply chains, restoration of degraded areas, agroforestry systems, GHG emissions and payment for environmental schemes. Previously in his career he worked at Sustainable Amazon Cattle Ranching (Pecsa), managing its ESG commitments, and at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) where he was part of the team that designed and implemented one of the most mature PES initiatives in the region, the Conserv Project. Pedro also runs his own social business/startup called Cumbaru, which is focused on restoration of degraded pastures through agroforestry systems in the Brazilian Amazon. Previous experience includes work with small, medium, and large size farmers, as well as traditional communities. Pedro speaks Portuguese and English.
Daniel Baeta
Luxor Agro/Pasto Vivo
Daniel is CEO of luxor Agro. Luxor Agro is a leader in building scalable solutions for regenerative agriculture, meeting the world’s growing demand for nutritious and ecological food. He is also part of the Pasto Vivo team. Pasto Vivo’s vision is that of biodiversity, and the bovine species as part of biodiversity coexists with the environment in a healthy way. Its mission is to show in practice evidenced by measurable data that it is possible to reconcile financial returns with impact returns, by regenerating soil, climate and biodiversity. The name ‘Pasto Vivo’ (Living Pasture) comes from the concept that pasture can go far beyond a single species of grass, with the sole objective of fattening cattle, to a diverse ecosystem that regenerates itself with the participation of animals fed on a diverse and healthy diet.
Johannes Zimpel
INOCAS
Johannes is Managing Director of INOCAS which aims to build the first value chain for vegetable oil production without deforestation and land use change. Planting the Macauba tree – a species native to Brazil – in an agroforestry system and processing its fruits, the company creates social, environmental and economic impact for all stakeholders, including smallholder farmers and harvest workers. INOCAS is implementing agricultural concepts allowing for a sustainable production of plant oils and resulting in significant carbon sequestration. These concepts include the integration of oil-bearing trees and palms in afforestation projects and in silvopastoral systems. Concepts for annual oil crops comprise intercropping and catch-cropping systems which also reduce carbon emissions from soil erosion.
