Terra Capital

Over het initiatief / About the initiative

In welke fase zit jouw initiatief? / In what stage is your initiative?

Ideefase

Heb je jouw initiatief al gevalideerd? / Did you validate your initiative?

Yes

Meer informatie over jouw initiatief / More info about your initiative

The shift from traditional to regenerative agriculture is pivotal for global food production. As demand for higher yields grows, the downsides of conventional fertilizers — soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and water pollution — become clearer. Regenerative agriculture is a potential solution to tackle these problems by revitalizing soil health, essential for a sustainable future. Despite rising demand for regenerative food, farmers and food companies lack the support needed to shift to sustainability amid climate change and soil degradation. Terra Capital’s vision is to de-risk the transition for players across the value chain while delivering meaningful returns, helping businesses achieve their sustainability targets and ultimately accelerating the shift with expertise and science. The solution is a financial tool for farmers which provides low-interest loans to cover the high upfront costs and expert guidance on adopting regenerative practices. Secondly, Terra Capital offers a financial tool for food companies in transitioning their supply chains to regenerative agriculture, guaranteeing a reliable supply of regenerative products.

Wat is er anders/nieuw aan jouw idee/oplossing t.o.v. bestaande oplossingen? / What is different/new about your idea/solution compared to existing solutions??

Terra Capital offers an integrated, targeted financial solution that directly addresses the unique challenges of transitioning to regenerative agriculture, challenges that are not sufficiently met by current financial products and investment vehicles. Traditional agricultural investments typically place the financial risk on farmers, requiring them to bear the burden of crop failures, price volatility, and unpredictable weather patterns. This discourages the adoption of regenerative practices, which are perceived as financially risky. Terra Capital addresses this challenge by securing long-term offtake agreements with retailers such as Albert Heijn, which transfer much of the financial risk from farmers to large, financially stable companies. These agreements guarantee farmers a stable income and incentivize retailers to support regenerative practices, as the resulting carbon savings can enhance their own sustainability credentials. Farmers gain access to additional revenue streams through carbon credits and biodiversity payments. Terra Capital also focuses on long-term land value appreciation: by improving soil health and ecosystem services, land values can increase by 10–15% over time, offering investors both ongoing agricultural revenue and asset appreciation. Unlike many funds that either acquire existing assets or focus only on immediate financial returns, Terra Capital blends concessional and private capital, offers technical expertise, risk management, and transparent reporting. This enables the fund to deliver competitive financial returns while achieving substantial environmental and social impact. The fund’s design encourages scalable and sustainable farmer participation, with an ambitious goal of reaching a 50% adoption rate among participating farmers within five years — positioning it as a leading solution compared to other initiatives that lack such scalability and integrated risk mitigation.

Wat zijn jouw volgende stappen om het verder te ontwikkelen? / What are your next steps to develop the initiative?

The next steps to get this project started is to speak to industry experts, farmers, and financial institutions with the goal to create partnerships and increasing the network and support. This is crucial to get a better understanding and even deeper insight into the challenges that the industry faces today and what must change to bring us to regenerative agriculture, a healthy and secure food system tomorrow. Not only the farmers’ perspective must be researched, but also the investors’ preferences and risk appetite concerning sustainable investments as well as the regulatory landscapes. Following, launching a pilot projects to test the effectiveness of regenerative practices in yield improvement and validate expected environmental and health benefits.

Wat heb je nodig om (nog meer) impact te maken met dit initiatief? / What do you need to make (more) impact with this initiative?

To scale Terra Capital’s impact, brainstorming sessions with financial experts can help design blended finance vehicles, concessional loans, and revenue-sharing models tailored for regenerative agriculture while being viable. Moreover, workshops on regenerative agriculture and access to technical advisors and agronomists is essential to ensure the fund’s support matches farmers’ needs and is grounded in practical, science-based methods. Thirdly, a wide network with retailers to secure offtake agreements, technical guidance, and wider market access. Personally, I would need workshops on venture building and investment fund creation to build an operational model, governance, and investment strategy.