Farmers Naturally

The regular food we eat has a major impact on our nature and society. Our agricultural system causes 25 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and 60 per cent of biodiversity loss. Add to that the current nitrogen crisis. Never has the agricultural transition been more urgent than now. But it is not too late. Farmers have a solution. For agriculture is pre-eminently the sector that can curb climate change and restore the water cycle and ecosystems. If natural farming becomes the new normal. Getting that done is quite a puzzle. Especially because currently many parties are working separately on a solution. That is not efficient. Whereas we do need each other.

Putting the puzzle together

Many parties have a piece of the puzzle. Only if we put the puzzle right will cooperation come about. To make that happen, Future Up founded Farmers Naturally, a selective national collective of parties with a financial and social interest in increasing biodiversity in Dutch agriculture.

This collective is all made up of Future Up partners. That means entrepreneurial professionals from banks, financiers, insurers, agronomists, soil biologists, government, cooperatives and other buyers. Together, we make switching to natural farming easier.

In Farmers Naturally there are doers. We stand next to the farmer and put the puzzle together: how do we make natural farming work? We start from the entrepreneurship of farmers. We implement together, look for ways to make this possible and share relevant knowledge and experiences with participants. We make agreements with parties and commit to the farmer for a longer period of time until the goal is achieved.

Participants

The collective includes organisations that help farmers convert. Therefore, for example, natural solution suppliers, cooperatives and buyers join. From the government side, ministries and provinces are involved in the collective. Furthermore, financiers and financial advisers join in, as do knowledge parties and farmers who already work naturally. See below for the most recent list of participants.

What Farmers Naturally does

Together with the farmer, the collective draws up a personal roadmap to convert the farm within 5-7 years. The roadmap includes:

• Objectives: what is the business case, what does the income stream look like, and what is the impact on biodiversity?

• A financing plan: what relevant (government) instruments can the farmer deploy?

• The desired deployment of the network: which experts, financiers, marketing parties and partners can provide the necessary solutions and arrange this with the farmer?

We lay down agreements in a five- to seven-year partnership with shared goals and responsibilities. Future Up connects the right parties and guides the process.

Roll Natural

Within the Sandwich Naturally concept, we develop attractive and tasty sandwiches - or other food items - for provinces, ministries, municipalities or regions. All products on the sandwich come from natural agriculture and thus contribute to strengthening nature and biodiversity and creating a market.

Waarom Future Up?

Future Up has more than a decade of experience in sustainable food and system transition. We hook up the right (market) parties with the farmer and are strong in connecting people and committing to a shared goal. We can also keep up the ambition from our neutral position. Agriculture is the only sector that can really make a positive impact, as long as we learn to cooperate with nature. Time to make the switch to natural agriculture together on the field.

Podcast

Also listen to our podcast on natural farming with Ingrid Jansen, director of Stimuland, and Gerard Teuling, agrifood sector manager at Future Up. Presentation: Michel van Kats.