WHAT CONNECTS US A changing climate and the transition to more sustainable farming: all hands to the plough VIVESCIA talks to two leading insiders BASTIEN SACHET 1 CEO of the Earthworm Foundation Climate change is everyone’s business, and we have to tackle it together. Each of us has our part to play – the “We need to work with the government, local and regional farmers to move away from authorities, companies, citizen consumers and, of course, farmers. a demand-based system We must realise this huge challenge to one where we build the is also an opportunity, and it’s going supply chain together.” to require us to 昀椀nd a new balance in our relationship with nature. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve been extracting natural capital to fuel As our name suggests, Earthworm our industrial needs. We need to turn serves as a catalyst, harnessing the things around. That means rethinking energy of different players in the our relationship with farmers, and supply chain to develop new systems placing them back at the heart of that help keep the soil healthy. the value chain. This calls for us to That’s what VIVESCIA is doing with urgently move away from a demand- its TRANSITIONS programme, based system to one where we which offers a unique framework build the supply chain together. This for cooperation between upstream collaborative way of working is all the farmers and downstream processing more crucial because farmers are the industries. This is a promising step bridgeheads of the transition to more towards a new kind of regenerative sustainable, regenerative farming: they agriculture that doesn’t disrupt the bear the responsibility for it and take climate or harm biodiversity. And that’s most of the risks. a win for all of us! 1. Earthworm is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that sets up practical projects to regenerate soils and forests, working in tandem with local authorities and businesses. Earthworm is a founding partner of the TRANSITIONS programme. The combination of VIVESCIA’s agronomic know- how and Earthworm’s recognised expertise in soil health have been key to developing the programme’s foundation of technical knowledge and the support mechanisms it offers. 23