Why note the state of soil health ?

Let's imagine something very simple and obvious that has the power to change the impact of agriculture on the environment, that makes all the actors change their way of deciding, that massively creates economic value that is aligned with environmental value. This is the project that Genesis has been working on for the past 3 years.

The invention of rating agencies

The first financial rating agencies were invented in the 19th century in response to the increasing number of bankruptcies and financial crises. They were a response to the growing concern of creditors and the difficulty of healthy companies to distinguish themselves from dubious borrowers. Today, all companies, but also states, are rated by the banking system and by international rating agencies.

The lack of visibility of the actors of the agricultural sectors on their environmental impact

GENESIS was created to respond to the need to assess the sustainability of agricultural supplies and the proven risk of soil degradation.

On the one hand, biobased industries need information on the real environmental impact of their agricultural supplies. On the other hand, according to the FAO, between 30 and 60% of the world's agricultural soils are damaged or very damaged by agricultural practices all over the world. Therefore, from the farmer to the consumer, through cooperatives, industrialists and financiers, there is a proven risk of deploying deleterious practices, of financing them or of buying products from damaged or polluted soils. 

The rating finally allows for informed decisions on production methods and supplies, values crops from healthy soils, and encourages others to monitor and improve their impact. Gradually, both impact scoring and the measurement of soil health will become legal requirements in the European Union.

Agriculture is part of the environmental problem, and, if we change the way we make decisions, it is also clearly part of the solution.