CERRADO, Brazil — AGCO Agriculture Foundation (the “Foundation”), a private foundation with the vision to prevent and relieve hunger through sustainable agricultural development, announced a new partnership with the Instituto de Conservação Ambiental, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Brazil.

Through a $300,000 grant over the next 24 months, the Foundation will support TNC Brazil programs that aim to help farmers adopt regenerative agriculture practices. TNC Brazil is one of the two nonprofit organizations whose grant proposals were selected for the 2023 Call for Applications for Grant (CAG). The initiative will help farmers enhance productivity and restore healthy landscapes while conserving natural systems that produce clean water and absorb carbon emissions. 

“As the Foundation continues its commitment to support programs and initiatives that contribute to sustainably feeding the world, we see a great opportunity to strengthen farmers’ knowledge and ability to implement sustainable agriculture practices,” said Roger Batkin, Board Chair of the Foundation. “Through our partnership with TNC Brazil, we will work with farmers and their communities to improve soil health, increase yields, conserve nature and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

With the funding support from the Foundation, TNC Brazil will focus in two main areas:

  • Facilitate sustainable agricultural training at a demonstration site in the Nova Xavantina region operated by the Federal University of Mato Grosso.
  • Establish a technical assistance program with local partners to train and engage agricultural graduates, such as agronomists.

Over the next two years, the project will support over 30 farms across 15,000 hectares of degraded pastures, training at least 50 field agricultural technicians and 15 graduate students.

“Restoring degraded pastures in the Cerrado is one of the key opportunities we have to advance on our conservation outcomes, since it helps to improve livelihoods while restoring soils, improving water systems in agricultural fields and helping restore soil health,” said Julia Mangueira, Cerrado Director, TNC Brazil.

TNC Brazil aims to scale the technical assistance program to reach up to 5,000 farmers in Brazil in the next five years.

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