Regenerative Agriculture

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Platanera Rio Sixaola: Measuring impact in aquatic ecosystems with bioindicators

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If we are to truly transition to sustainable food and farming systems, we need to measure our impact.

Rivers are ecosystems that are strongly influenced by their surroundings, and river ecologists have long recognized that rivers and streams are influenced by the landscapes through which they flow. Thus, one way of measuring the impact that our operations are having in the environment is by looking at the ecological health of the rivers and streams that flow through our farms.

Unlike physicochemical analyses, which reflect the condition of the water at the time of sampling (similar to a photograph), biological indicators like fish assemblage, macroinvertebrate benthic community, and condition of the physical habitat, respond to longer term environmental conditions integrating ecological information over time.

Sixaola River flowing through the PRS farm

The Sand Box River is a tributary of the Sixaola River basin and flows through the western edge of our farm Platanera Rio Sixaola in Costa Rica. This river is in a hotspot of endemism for freshwater fish in the country, so its management is critical for the conservation of the unique aquatic biodiversity of the country. As responsible stewards of the land, we deeply care about how our practices are influencing this important river. Monitoring and interpreting bioindicators require scientific expertise and skills, so we partnered with the River Biomonitoring Program of the ANAI Association from Costa Rica to conduct a relevant study.

They found out that the river is habitat for five freshwater species endemic to the South Caribbean, all listed as Endangered, according to IUCN’s Red List (2020). Furthermore, they Identified the presence of four species that need to migrate between fresh and brackish watersto complete their life cycle. The presence of migratory species indicate that rivers are freely connected to the sea and maintain good characteristics of habitat and forested riparian zones. Platanera Rio Sixaola is constantly working on Improving the water quality through sustainable agriculture practices and to minimize the disturbance of the area adjacent to the river as much as possible.

Watch our biodiversity video

This article is an extract of the 2022 12Tree Sustainability Report. Download the report to learn more about our regenerative approach to farming illustrated in several farm case studies, articles and partner interviews.

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Creating carbon credits

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12Tree has selected Terra Global Capital as our ideal carbon development partner to help bring our portfolio of farms up to certification standard. Founded in 2006, Terra Global is a woman-run, women-owned for-profit social enterprise, and small business, whose mission is to facilitate financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable landscapes. In May of this 2022, we had the privilege of interviewing Leslie Durschinger, CEO of Terra Global, and Carolina Oleas, Project Manager and Ag Specialist, about the nature of the certification work we are conducting with their aid.

It’s been said that truly additional and permanent storage of carbon may often be at odds with other financial considerations that govern how farmland is managed. To what degree do you agree or disagree with this statement?

This statement reflects the belief that adoption of carbon positive growing systems and management practices will reduce yields thus having a negative financial impact on profits. But in many cases, the opposite occurs particularly when you look over the long-term. Comparing agricultural practices focused on maximizing short-term yield to the adoption of long-term carbon positive farming often show that later has lower costs, lower risks, and higher productivity, plus the added value of carbon revenue. Integrative carbon-positive systems focus on components such as soil health and fertility which are prioritized to build and maintain a long-term productivity of the farm. The benefits of the increase of organic carbon in the soil are noticeable in the long run, thus it is important for farmers to have practical and accessible technologies to measure, monitor and observe the changes of the carbon in the soil and reduction in nitrous oxide, plus the continuous technical support during the transition process so farmers understand the carbon cycle and the possible effects on their crops and their profits. Through adoption of sustainable carbon positive practices, farmers can often increase their long-yield and crop revenue while lowering costs and reducing risk through building more resilience farms.

How do you think Terra’s particular approach to the design of our 12Tree project can help differentiate our carbon credits from others in the marketplace?

Terra Global provides continuous technical support to the projects and the staff on the ground for capturing the required data and quantifying the full range of carbon pools that produce reductions and removals from the sustainable agroforestry systems being promoted by 12Tree projects. This is done through in person and virtual trainings, building capacity, and providing on-going technical guidance on from everyday farm decisions regarding practices to monitoring to capture the data needed for market standard validation and monitoring to verify high quality multiple benefit emission reductions and removals. Through working in partnership with 12Trees with their expertise in agronomic management and Terra Global’s experience in producing high quality credits under carbon market standards, the teams carbon credits will be high environmental integrity and include the certification of the community benefits that are part of all of 12Trees projects.

What have been some of the main obstacles preventing the agriculture/food production sector from entering the carbon offset market, and how can we incentivize more farm operations to access carbon finance?

Some of the factors that have affected the increase of agricultural/ food production projects to enter the offset conservation are:

1. SIZE OF THE AVERAGE FARM PRODUCTION

81% of global crops are grown on farms less than 199 hectares. Big farms have a minority share in crop production, only contributing to 5% of worldwide crop growth. This shows that agricultural production is divided into small farm areas, making it difficult to consolidate the adoption of practices and less likely that small farmers will have the capital to invest in a carbon certification. One of the alternatives that have supported small farmers’ certifications are being part of grouped projects, where farms/land that have implemented similar agricultural practices can get certified as a group, facilitating the adoption of practices and credits in bigger areas.

2. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ON THE STANDARDS & PROTOCOLS

This is a limiting factor, as information about standards is publicly available, but farmers do not know how to access it. It is important to continue the education process to make all actors involved, more familiar not only with the standards available but also with the processes to follow to get credits and maintain them.

This article is an extract of the 2022 12Tree Sustainability Report. Download the report to learn more about our regenerative approach to farming illustrated in several farm case studies, articles and partner interviews.

Cuango: Non-chemical alternatives to weed control

Globally, weeds pose the greatest threat to crop yield, generating losses that surpass those caused by both pests and pathogens.

Defined by their rapid growth, high rate of reproduction, and persistence, weeds compete with crops for limited light, nutrient, and water resources. Once established, they are notoriously difficult to get rid of. In addition, their seeds often remain dormant in the soil for extended periods of time, suddenly re-emerging with rainfall or when soil is tilled or fertilized. Modern conventional farms typically rely on chemical treatments to control weeds. But the intensive use of chemicals also bears many environmental and health risks. Therefore, a general rethinking around weed control is underway. Many conventional, but especially sustainability-oriented farms, are exploring non-chemical alternatives. This is not an easy transformation- it takes time, is labor-intensive, and often entails considerable upfront costs. But on the other hand, the research and empirical evidence resoundingly proves that reducing chemical inputs leads to healthier, more productive crops and results in more resilient agricultural systems in harmony with people and nature.

Identifying alternative approaches to weed management is thus a critical part of 12Tree’s efforts to integrate regenerative agricultural practices across our portfolio. Towards this end, 12Tree carried out a study on non-chemical weed management approaches that could effectively help phase out glyphosate and other herbicides at our Cuango Farm in Panama.

Cuango and its weed problem

Brachiaria grass invading the plantain crops

The Cuango Farm sits along the Cuango River on the northern Atlantic coast of Panama. The tropical humid climate is ideal for the cultivation of cacao, plantains, and forestry. However, the farm is facing a major challenge in the form of heavy weed pressure from Brachiaria grasses. Brachiaria grasses are a non-native, invasive grass species introduced by the former landowner to serve as feedstock for cattle. For decades, the grasses went unmanaged across the property, resulting in their ubiquitous presence across the farm, as well as in a large Brachiaria grass seedbank. When 12Tree took over the property and began planting productive crops, the farm management team faced tremendous weed pressure from these grasses. As areas were cleared of vegetation and the crop seedlings were planted, Brachiaria grasses grew back and spread, affecting the growth of the seedlings and depriving them of light, space, and nutrients- essentially choking them.


Exploring non-chemical treatments for Brachiaria

Over the past 2-3 years, the team around Emily Fortney Alvarez (general manager) and Roderick Binns (farm manager) have undertaken the Herculean task of combatting this overwhelming weed pressure while simultaneously reducing herbicide dependency through the gradual introduction of non-chemical approaches.

The Cuango team relies on a combination of mechanical and cultural controls. Mechanical controls refer to physically cutting down the weeds, while cultural control refers to a change in practices which produces a fundamental change in weed dynamics. Cuango’s cultural control approach focuses on increased plant competition. If emerging Brachiaria grasses have no competition from vegetation besides the vulnerable cacao crop seedlings, they will easily destroy the young crops. However, when the ground is already covered with crops and shade elements are integrated into the system, it is more difficult for the Brachiaria grasses to take hold. For this reason, Cuango’s cacao is now grown as part of an agroforestry system that includes plantain, because the fast-growing plantain provides near immediate shade- which cacao seedlings love and the light-dependent Brachiaria grasses hate. This effect is further enhanced by leaving narrow strips of natural vegetation,referred to as “bio bands”. They provide both shade and a plant diversity, which reduces weed pressure from Brachiaria.

Lessons learned

Cacao and plantain intercropped with a dense mulch cover on the ground in order to prevent the emergence of weeds.

Cuango is an excellent example of a farm delicately balancing the short-term demands of an efficient and productive farm with the long-term vision of sustainable, regenerative land management. Through observation, research, and piloting, Cuango has explored different regenerative practices and identified some that are not effective for that farm - such as a failed experiment with pigeon pea ground cover- and some that work even better than expected- such as the cultural management weeds with shade crops, bio bands, and dense mulch cover. This combination of practices- along with the preservation of the primary forest directly surrounding the farm- has resulted in Cuango eliminating the use of pesticides, fungicides, and nematicides on its plantain crops! A system that is not disturbed by a regular input of chemicals, that has healthy and diverse vegetation and continuous ground cover, is a resilient system that can better cope with other external stressors and ultimately deliver better yields. While the farm is not certified organic and has not disavowed the use of chemical treatments for specific acute treatments- it has proven the enormous potential of non-chemical approaches to weed control.

Critical to the successes thus far has been an ambitious approach that bundles several non-chemical weed management methods, all of them with different modes of application and invariably different individual and cumulative effects. This means more effort and higher costs in the short term, and also less clarity on the direct effect of each method. For this reason, the meticulous record-keeping and diligent care by its dedicated management and field teams has been equally critical to the farm’s progress on this regenerative journey. If you are interested to dive deeper into this topic, please see the results from the Master thesis written on this topic.

Access the full Master thesis here.

This article is an extract of the 2022 12Tree Sustainability Report


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Chimelb: Cultivating coffee sustainably at high altitudes

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Carlos Torrebiarte is the director of operations at Chimelb Farm in Guatemala. He has more than 20 years of experience in coffee cultivation and regenerative agriculture. Together with his team of about 174 permanent employees, he grows four different cash crops in intercropping systems on 1,738 hectares.

How is coffee cultivated on the Chimelb farm?

We cultivate Arabica coffee on a round 580 hectares of Chimelb farm. Chimelb, with its vast landscape of rolling hills, has a variety of microclimates in a relatively small area because of the constant changes in elevation. The Arabica coffee is grown at the farm’s highest elevations, on the top of these hills, surrounded by areas of natural and commercial forests. These higher altitudes provide the conditions necessary to accentuate the natural flavors of different arabica coffee varieties, improving their cupping quality. The coffee is grown under direct sunlight to increase its metabolism and productive potential, using grass cover crops to prevent erosion and improve physical, as well as microbiological qualities of the soil. The natural and commercial forests that we protect and manage, and that stretch across the coffee plantation, act as natural barriers against pests and preserve the biodiversity unique to the region. Producing coffee is a long-term commitment that requires a lot of hard work and determination. Unlike annual crops that are planted and harvested in the same year, coffee is a perennial crop with an expected life cycle of around 20 years. It has a long investment phase, as three years of careful management of young plantings must pass before a coffee plant is ready to produce its first important harvest. Five years after establishment, a coffee plant reaches its productive potential, and throughout the rest of its life, it is managed to produce in on and off cycles according to its natural biannual production cycle or through management practices such as pruning. In Chimelb, as is the case in most Guatemalan coffee farms, the coffee is harvested manually. Hundreds of collaborators from neighboring communities such as Cojaj and Campur are hired during the harvest season bringing much needed economic development opportunities for the region. Unlike perhaps all farms in the region, in Chimelb both ripe and green cherries are harvested together to simplify the task for the collaborators, allowing them to be more efficient.

So, after harvesting the coffee beans, what do you do with them?

All the field work is just the start of all the processes that must be completed so that a cup of coffee is ready to drink. There are different ways to complete this process but for Chimelb, after harvest, the next step in the process is the cherry coffee transformation in the wet mill. The wet mill gets its name from the fact that is uses water in one of the steps in the process to produce what is known as washed coffee[1].

Washed coffee only makes up approximately 50% of all coffee produced worldwide, but the great majority of the premium quality specialty coffee is washed. The wet milling process is a science as well as an art, with many factors such as time, drying temperature, and even anaerobic fermentation processes that must be considered to produce the best coffee possible. For Chimelb coffee, the process starts by sorting the ripe and green cherries by color and density. This results in three different channels where the coffee is processed, since the different colors and densities produce differing qualities of coffee. The ripe and dense cherries are transported to a depulper, where the pulp or skin of the cherry is removed to produce a wet parchment coffee. This wet parchment contains mucilage - or sugar compounds - in the outer layer of the seed, that go through a fermentation process that help the coffee achieve a better and more uniform flavor profile. Once it is ready, this wet parchment is washed to remove the mucilage, and transported to “guardiolas”, or rotary driers, so that it is dried into dry parchment. This dry parchment goes though one final preparation process, called dehusking, in the “dry mill”, and is then ready for export, roasting, and consumption. The green and lower density cherries go through a different process, known as a natural preparation. Unlike washed coffee, this type of coffee is dried without removing the outer skin. Therefore, its mucilage is not removed through the washing process. This process has to take place for the green and lower density cherries since the composition of the skin of these kinds of coffee makes it harder for it to be removed. Still, the quality of naturally processed coffee can be just as good as washed ones. One aspect of the wet milling process for Chimelb coffee that we are very proud of is that it uses much lower quantities of water compared to the industry standard. All the by-products from the process, such as the removed skin, are also further processed and can be used throughout the farm as fertilizer.

What are currently the main challenges for coffee production at your farm?

One of the main agronomical challenges we currently face is the increasing pressure from pest and diseases. Diseases like leaf rust have continuously intensified and become harder to combat through the years. In Chimelb, we are tackling these issues through the regenerative management practices used in the farm, such as the forestry buffer zones used in the system or intercropping with grass cover crops or other cash crop in the case of Robusta coffee. These practices lead to a more diverse plantation that more easily combats the spread of pest and diseases. Another important challenge is the increase in the amount and intensity of rainfalls, which can be especially risky in mountainous landscapes such as those found in Chimelb. Regenerative growing practices, such as the grass cover crop, are once again our most important tools to prevent the problems, such as soil erosion and nutrient runoff, that could result from excessive rainfalls if the ground was left uncovered. Despite these important challenges, I believe that the biggest challenge that coffee currently faces lies on the economic side of the industry. Coffee prices have remained stagnant throughout the last decades, while the capital necessary to invest and manage a farm keeps increasing. Crop diversification, regenerative practices and certifications such as Rainforest Alliance are all tools that we use in Chimelb to address this challenge. However, all these are very capital-intensive processes, especially in the short term. As a result, many coffee farmers in Guatemala and throughout the world, have had no choice but to abandon their way of life, as younger generations no longer want to be involved in a business that promises few returns despite the tremendous work that is involved in it. Coffee has a tremendous potential to be an engine for economic and social development in coffee producing countries, but as long as the price situation does not improve, I see it very hard for producers to implement all the management practices necessary to be sustainable.

[1] DEFINITION: “Washed coffee” refers to coffee that is dried after removing its outer skin, and “washing” off its mucilage

This article is an extract of the 2022 12Tree Sustainability Report

Regenerative Agriculture: From aspiration to company standard

In some ways, regenerative agriculture has become the new buzzword, not unlike “sustainable” or “green” of the recent past. If you ask ten farmers what regenerative agriculture looks like, or what it accomplishes, you will likely get ten different answers. Over the past three years, 12Tree has dedicated significant time and resources to answering these very questions. And though we feel we are just beginning on this journey, we have been delighted with the results. It is our pleasure to share with you here our thoughts and experiences on regenerative agriculture.

So, what is regenerative agriculture? It is a set of practices focused on the active management of above-ground and below-ground biodiversity which bring economic, social, and environmental benefits to our farming systems. It is knowledge intensive agriculture that does not allow for prescriptions that are universally applied across farms, but instead requires practitioners to utilize their toolkit of practices to develop a tailored solution for each farm. It emphasizes the maximization of long-term profits, not through maximization of yields – the conventional mindset – but through the optimization of yields, inputs, and resources. Importantly, regenerative agriculture is not financially concessionary but instead can and should be more profitable than our current convention- and therein lies its power for global impact.

We see regenerative agriculture as the natural next step in the progression and professionalization of agriculture. The “green revolution”, “precision agriculture”, and “conventional agriculture” have all done important things for the world. It is because of these advances that we have been able to significantly reduce costs and improve access to food, directly contributing to reduced global hunger. Regenerative agriculture does not destroy these paradigms. Rather, it takes the best from each of them and adds the perspective and awareness that will be necessary to feed our growing population without destroying our planet.

Many potential benefits of regenerative agriculture have been advocated by professionals and organizations. From 12Tree’s perspective -given our research and empirical experience across our farms- we believe that regenerative agriculture has the power to make farms (large and small) more resilient to input price shocks and increase the profitability of food production.

How do we go about it then?

First and foremost, it is important to acknowledge that there is no silver bullet, no single practice, no prescription that will achieve all of the benefits above. Instead, it is the intelligent combination of regenerative practices given a farm’s regional, climactic, cultural, and crop context that enables these benefits. It is the system that drives the change. All of our farms utilize some combination of the following regenerative practices to achieve these objectives:

1. AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS

Kalob Williams, Chief Operations Officer at 12Tree

These systems include a tree crop and more than one actively managed secondary or service species. In our farms, we have 17 distinct agroforestry systems that include 8 primary crop species, 6 forestry species, and various other support species. Compared to monocultures, this increased biodiversity promotes nutrient cycling and organic matter increases, reduces pest and disease pressure, and provides diversified cashflow. Additionally, these systems sequester significantly more carbon than their conventional counterparts.

2. KEEP THE SOIL COVERED

Uncovered soil is exposed to high temperatures, wind and water erosion, and compaction. By keeping our soils covered with cover crops or via non-chemical weed control we counteract these effects while also increasing nutrient cycling, improving soil water retention, and feeding belowground biodiversity.

3. NATURAL NITROGEN SOURCING

The largest part of most farm’s carbon footprint is related to the production, transport, and application of nitrogen fertilizers. By utilizing leguminous plants (beans) that are able to “fix” or capture and hold nitrogen in the soil, we reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizers, and therefore the carbon footprint of our products.

4. REDUCE DISTURBANCES

Many of the advances in agricultural technology involve physical and chemical disturbance of the soil that, when overused, destroy above- and below-ground biodiversity. We seek to reduce or eliminate chemical or physical disturbances in order to promote a thriving soil microbiome and ecosystem which in turn reduce pest and disease pressure, cycle nutrients, sequester carbon, and reduce reliance on external inputs.

5. PROMOTE DIVERSE LIFE

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Conventional agriculture has begun to look at a farm field as a laboratory. In extreme cases all life is eliminated except for the single crop that is planted. This creates an imbalance that leaves farms susceptible to pest and disease outbreaks and reduces the biodiversity of surrounding areas. Through activities such as on-site microbe propagation in our farm labs, compost tea production, predator population promotion, and insect population promotion, we seek to bring a balance of life to our farms that mitigates pest and disease pressure and creates symbiosis in the rhizosphere.


We feel we are just scratching the surface with the interventions we have made since the inception of our company but are happy to report that – next to a number of initial mistakes – we have seen several examples of success across our farms as we implement these practices. For example:

1. A 50% REDUCTION IN CHEMICAL

SPRAYS for the main banana disease “Sigatoka” and 75% reduction in sprays for mealybug at Platanera Rio Sixaola in Costa Rica. This is directly linked to the biodiversity existent in the production system that reduces pest and disease pressure.

2. ACHIEVING YIELD CURVES at Andean

Cacao in Colombia that are equal to or greater than the industry standard for cacao production, but doing so in a diverse agroforestry system with up to 6 actively managed species.

3. ELIMINATION OF PESTICIDE

FUNGICIDE, AND NEMATICIDE use on our plantains at Cuango in Panama. This is directly related to the biodiversity of the agroforestry system, the cover species, and the surrounding primary forest.

4. CONVERSION OF MORE THAN

4,000 HECTARES of cattle pastures into agroforestry systems which reverses the carbon footprint of the land. … and many more. Though we are happy with our success so far, we recognize that there is still so much for us to learn. We believe that the full potential of regenerative agriculture is yet to be fully understood and we are happy to be working together with many individuals and organizations to further develop the field.

Written by Kalob Williams, Chief Operations Officer at 12Tree

This article is an extract of the 2022 12Tree Sustainability Report.

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Andean Cacao: Mars Wrigley’s mission for a climate-neutral cocoa bean

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In 2021, Mars Wrigley announced a joint climate-smart venture, Andean Cacao, with 12Tree and ECOM, one of the world’s largest suppliers of sustainable cacao beans.

Andean Cacao’s vision is to catalyze an industry shift, transforming formerly degraded land into a scalable, sustainable production model. The initial target for the venture is to regenerate 2,000+ hectares of pastureland in Colombia. We had the honor of interviewing Matthew Moudy, who leads Mars Wrigley’s Modern Sustainable Cocoa Farming strategy. He leads the initiative on Mars Wrigley’s side and works closely with the Andean Cacao team on a weekly basis. During the interview, we talked about the company’s overall sustainability strategy as well as their perspective and motivation to support Andean Cacao.

How does Mars Wrigley define sustainable cacao production?

The way cacao beans are produced today holds many challenges for us humans as well as nature. We aim to reshape the future of cacao by creating an inclusive, modern and sustainable supply chain. This means creating a cacao sector where human rights are respected, the environment is protected and everyone, especially cacao farmers, has the opportunity to thrive. It is still a fact that farmers, especially smallholders, are the most challenged actor in the food supply chain. They bear all the production risk, but often do not earn enough to provide a decent income. We want to ensure that supply chains are built in a way that allows people to thrive. And this goes beyond ensuring proper incomes and premiums, but also by supporting them to increase their productivity, and developing alternative large-scale farm models where farming communities can find decent job opportunities and wages. For us, protecting the planet goes far beyond meeting the bare minimum, such as no water and air pollution. It’s about reducing carbon footprint and stopping deforestation in our supply chain. Mars is a member of the World Cocoa Foundation’s Cocoa & Forests Initiative and a signatory to the CFI commitments to halt deforestation and restore forests in the global cacao supply chain. Our aim is to achieve a deforestation-free supply chain by 2025 and to further achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

And how does Andean Cacao fit into this strategy?

Farm visit with Andean Cacao

Andean Cacao is our flagship project, in which we want to catalyze an industry shift, to prove how climate-smart cacao production can work at a large-scale. We made some big bets, transforming the cacao sector sustainably towards carbon neutrality, thriving farmers and all involved stakeholders of our supply chain… With Andean Cacao we can prove that such a transition is possible. The project is still in the transformation process, regenerating formerly degraded cattle grazing land into a highly productive, sustainable farm with the goal of delivering quality carbon-neutral cacao beans. The project seeks to improve carbon sequestration, soil health, and biodiversity, create living-wage job opportunities, and support neighbor communities. Another important aspect here is our land footprint. As our business continues to grow, we faced the question of how we ensure that we are not using land for cacao production that local people need to grow food in order to survive. Therefore, we made the commitment not to take up any more land in the supply chain. As part of Mars journey to become Net Zero by 2050, we have committed to have no greater land footprint in 2050 than we had in 2015 and foster smart-ag, regenerative and resilient practices in place within our supply chain. In order to achieve this, we need to be more productive on the land we already have - once again this is where Andean Cacao comes in.

What impresses you most about the project?

Every day we learn something new. What I really admire about Andean Cacao CEO Xavier Sagnieres and his team is that they are proactive instead of reactive. Each new insight is taken in and serves as the basis for the next decision or strategy adjustments. As a result, the project does not stop but gets better each year. The scale we are at today is tiny in comparison where we will be, so being able to make these learnings is super important. And second, Andean Cacao is showing that it works, that climate smart agriculture enables high productivity while continuously improving the health and well-being of the environment, the soil, and the people.