Where—and how—should we deploy capital to support the transition to regenerative agriculture in the American Midwest?

Agriculture's extensive environmental footprint and pivotal role in global food and economic security make it a quintessential systemic challenge—to which regenerative agriculture has emerged as a promising solution.

But shifting from conventional to regenerative practices necessitates substantial investments. 

And it is not simply a question of how much capital is deployed, but how it is deployed.

The American Midwest is one of the world's most intense agricultural production areas, and capital is already flowing into regenerative agriculture here, including from federal government programs, foundations, and venture capitalists. And there is growing interest from U.S. funders and investors. 

However, this money largely flows into single-point solutions: funding for one processing facility, investment in individual start-ups, grants for conservation projects and so on. 

We need a systemic approach to investing—the strategic orchestration of multiple forms of capital provided by multiple types of investors. 

So today we’re pleased to share a new “transition map” to help guide those investors and funders wanting to be part of the shift to regenerative agriculture. 

The result of a year-long systemic inquiry and consultation process, the map identifies a number of strategic impact opportunities which, when pursued in concert with other initiatives, could unblock systemic challenges and help transform the agri-food sector in this critical region. 

Explore our presentation on the research here, and the full map here. 

The work doesn’t end here. With the support of the Walton Family Foundation we’re kicking off stage two of the prototype: the development of a “strategic capital facilitator” to mobilize and coordinate capital flows in service of the broader mission. 

This map was developed thanks to funding from the New Capitalism Project Lab and with support from the Meridian Institute.