About the project
The North Sea Region (NSR) faces soil degradation and biodiversity loss resulting from presentday agricultural production processes. Our transnational partnership (researchers, farm advisors, branche organisations and farmers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Norway) is currently working on promoting Carbon Farming in the NSR: a new way of farming to store carbon in agricultural soils, mitigating climate change and restore soil quality!The project overall objective is to enable a transition in the agrifood supply chain by the adoption of carbon sequestration (CS) techniques throughout the NSR as a contribution to the greening of the agrifood production processes. This will not only prevent soil degradation, but will also reverse biodiversity loss and store carbon from atmospheric CO2.
In the Carbon Farming project we focus on the following activities:
• Stimulate farmers to adopt CS techniques
• Stimulate collaboration on CS between farmers and partners in or outside the agri-food chain
• Showcase practical examples of CS business models
Stimulate farmers to adopt CS techniques
We organise excursions, knowledge sessions and demonstrations on CS techniques in the project regions, with experts and farmers. In this way farmers learn more about the possibilities to increase the carbon content of the soil and how they can improve their soil management. Also fellow farmers share insights and experiences with each other on challanges and opportunities concerning the tranition to using (more) CS techniques.
In the carbon Farming project the project partners will create a practical handbook for farmers on the application of CS techniques.
Stimulate collaboration on CS between farmers and partners in or outside the agri-food chain
The application of CS techniques on farmland often requires (extra) effort and a financial investment of the farmer. An (economic) incentive to get started with this and make the transition to more sustainable farm management is missing. Applying CS techniques on the soil provides opportunities for both farmers and local stakeholders. Parties within or outside the agri-food chain who, for example, want to make their own productchain more sustainable or want to compensate for their own CO2 emissions can do this by working together with a farmer in the region. The farmer fixes the carbon and is rewarded for this by the partner. For companies, this provides benefits for their image, branding of their product and/or they achieve sustainability objectives.
In the Carbon Farming project we develop and test new CS business models with farmers and stakeholders. In the project region we organise sessions together with farmers and stakeholders to discuss ideas and facilitate collaboration.
Showcase practical examples of CS business models
In the Carbon Farming project we actually test and validate new business models on CS in practice, together with the interested parties in and outside the agri-food chain. We will develop 15 showcases in the North Sea Region.