Olam Agri, a global agribusiness in food, feed, and fiber, announced the start of its regenerative agriculture program across the U.S. cotton belt with the goal of satisfying the increasing demand for traceable and sustainably cultivated cotton.
Olam Agri began implementing regenerative agriculture in cotton in 2020 with the goal of giving cotton producers the means, resources, and market access to reduce climate risk, improve soil fertility, sequester carbon, promote biodiversity, and control energy and water use.
This work has culminated in a new program that will provide clients with cotton goods that have full chain of custody certification, starting with production and continuing through harvesting, ginning, storage, and shipping. Every farm and ginning facility involved in the initiative holds a regenagri certification.
Furthermore, Olam Agri intends to pay those who use regenerative approaches as part of the program directly. It is anticipated that this technique of incentivization will increase farmer engagement and advance sustainable farming practices more broadly.
Olam Agri has been certified by regenagri to operate three ginning plants and 15,000 hectares of farmland that together produce 20,000 MT of cotton in the United States.
Olam Agri, one of the biggest cotton merchants in the world, has worked closely with smallholder farmers in Africa and large-scale farmers in Australia and the Americas for decades to develop an integrated global cotton business. Around the world, 350 million people, including 100mn farmers, depend directly on cotton for their livelihoods.
