Healthy Soils

Degraded soil affects nearly one third of the Earth's land area, impacted in part by poor management practices, population pressures on the land and use of expensive chemical fertilisers and labour-intensive organic nutrients. This results in enormous costs environmentally, and economically to the farmers.

Measuring Progress

Our goal is to protect and restore degraded soil. Our primary efforts are focused on supporting and educating smallholder farmers in better land management and farming practices. Over the year our business has delivered education and training to almost 465,000 farmers on best soil practices.

We have implemented programmes to tackle issues such as soil erosion and improving soil moisture, to help farmers protect and rejuvenate their land.

In 2021, our cotton subsidiary SECO introduced a four-part soil health improvement plan, focused on analysis, erosion control, composting, cover crops and green manure. By linking soil health to yield and crop quality, the plan is teaching communities the importance of soil management.

A Blend of Work

Blending coffee with agroforestry for prosperous farmers and living landscapes.

Pairing Coffee with Lemongrass

The rich mix of volcanic soil of the Isale region in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and plentiful moisture fed through from the Great Lakes, provides fertile ground for happy, healthy coffee trees.