April 25, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Builders Vision, an impact investment platform launched by Walmart heir Lukas Walton, has made an undisclosed investment in Agroforestry Partners (AP). AP is an alternative investment fund implementing agroforestry practices including alleycropping of annual crops between perennial trees, silvopasture, riparian forest buffers, forest farming, and windbreaks on U.S. farmland with the goal of realizing both nature-based and economic returns. 

For centuries, the unaccounted losses tied to traditional extractive farming have been viewed as unavoidable, and inherent – but it need not be this way, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, who stated that a shift from extractive to regenerative agriculture is not only possible, but profitable, when taking a more modern, learned, and complete approach to the costs and output of agricultural production.

One promising facet of regenerative agriculture is agroforestry – not a newly developed methodology, but rather one that reaches back to harness the power that comes from working with nature and natural landscapes.

The Association of Temperate Agroforestry noted that there are five categories of agroforestry in North America, each of which brings its own benefits to farmers depending on their ultimate goals: windbreaks, alley cropping, silvopasture, riparian buffers, and forest farming.

No matter the type being employed, all agroforestry practices, if done correctly, the Association of Temperate Agroforestry explained, have four characteristics that set it apart from traditional farming or forestry:

~ Intentionality: the intentional design and management of trees, crops, and/or animals as a whole unit, rather than proximate systems.

~ Intensive management: the intensive management of agroforestry practices to maintain productivity and protective goals.

~ Interactive: the active manipulation of biological and physical interactions between crops, trees, and animals to concurrently enhance multiple harvestable components while also pursuing conservation of water and wildlife, for example.

~ Integration: whether integrated horizontally or vertically, or above or below ground level, the trees, crops, and/or animals are structured into a single integrated management unit to optimize productive capacity while balancing economic benefits with resource conservation.

Despite the multiple economic and ecological benefits that agroforestry can provide, today’s farmers face definite hurdles in implementation and design. With $9 trillion earmarked for funding ESG initiatives between 2022-2025 and commitment from corporations to reduce climbing emissions, now the opportunity to scale agroforestry is greater than ever as the most effective climate solution in existence today for the food and ag industry.

Builders Vision was launched with the mission to catalyze philanthropy, investment, and advocacy to build a more healthy planet by investing in Seed and Scale phase initiatives in three impact areas: food and agriculture, climate and energy, and oceans.

This investment was made through Builders Bridge, which fuels an investment portfolio at Builders Vision focusing on catalyzing capital and scaling market solutions in essential, but underserved opportunities in oceans, energy, and food & agriculture. 

“Builders Vision is thrilled to support Agroforestry Partners, as the fund’s objectives are closely aligned with our mission around climate resilience and food security,” said Ellie Barker, investments, Builders Initiative. 

AP is currently piloting chestnut and hay alleycropping investments in Kentucky and Ohio, while also preparing for its expansion into new geographic hubs in the U.S. Northeast and Southeast regions. 

Chestnuts are one of the few nuts that have both a carbon negative and water positive environmental impact, leading AP to continue to focus on production as part of its regenerative agriculture strategy.

The fund’s initial phase has a target to expand production of domestic chestnuts by 3,500 acres, with the aim of offsetting the 7.5 million pounds of nuts that are imported and consumed in the U.S. each year.

This investment from Builders Vision now enables AP to endeavor beyond its pilot phase in Kentucky and Ohio, to formalize its 3,500-acre development, while laying the groundwork for further geographic expansion. 

“Agroforestry is an important component of regenerative agriculture, but it is an entirely new asset class that needs to be proven out,” said Barker. “We believe that AP is well positioned to scale its model and demonstrate agroforestry’s role in rehabilitating soil, improving water quality and biodiversity, and increasing farm returns and farmer wealth.” 

“We are excited to see how the fund catalyzes other agroforestry projects around the country and ultimately incentivizes other investors to participate.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and Agtech Intel News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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