WATCH: Henry Dimbleby says the link between human and soil health is set to explode
Dimbleby is a loud advocate for regenerative farming techniques, which he believes make up a key component of a sustainable and environmentally friendly food system.
Thanks to regenerative’s focus on improving soil health, he believes the health benefits of regen ag will increasingly come to the fore.
Speaking to AgTechNavigator at the sidelines of the recent World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London, he said: “I think there is a revolution about to happen based on the understanding of the complexity of the soil, how that links to nutritional density, how that links to the gut biome, how that links to mental health and the immune system, which will completely transform what we see as the value of food.”
With the use of big data analytics in agriculture also expanding significantly, he says this value could be monetised by farmers, in a similar to carbon credits, to incentivise practices that promote healthy soils.
Rather than being mere "commodity providers" to food manufacturers, famers could prove critical to nutrition and human health, he believes.
Regenerative practices he says “will be able to help companies farm in ways with nature that are more nutrient dense, that restore biodiversity, sequester carbon and produce more nutritious food that nourishes human health".
Thee revolution about to happen in data-enabled soil health
Regulation is also needed to accelerate this transition. “It's the job of government to legislate in a nimble way to make as much as that data as public a possible which will accelerate the scientific transition,” he says.
Bramble Partners, the venture capital firm launched in January, is investing in various businesses that aim to improve food security, health, and environmental impacts of food production. Bramble Partners is backed by a £50 million (€43 million) fund. It targets co-investments in businesses from Series A to growth stage.
It will also advise governments, corporates and NGOs on how to navigate and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable food system.
