Nestlé to support 40,000 young farmers adopt regenerative farming practices as part of net zero ambitions

SWITZERLAND – Swiss food manufacturing conglomerate Nestlé is aiming to help at least 40,000 young farmers adopt regenerative farming practices as part of its efforts to create a sustainable food system. 

To support young people who are passionate about farming, Nestlé said it is launching a new training platform in November to attract and train the next generation of farmers.  

The training will focus on regenerative agriculture practices and improving the resilience of farms to climate change for young farmers participating in one of Nestlé’s agripreneurship programs. 

Nestlé renewed focus on regeneration efforts are launching under the umbrella title of ‘Generation Regeneration’ focused on farmers, youth, consumers and its own employees. 

Through the project, the maker of Milo chocolate drink aims to protect and restore the environment, improve the livelihoods of farmers and enhance the well-being of farming communities.  

Commitment to environment conservation

Bringing in more farmers into sustainable farming is part of Nestlé’s recently released commitments which are aimed at enhancement of biodiversity, soil conservation, regeneration of water cycles and integration of livestock. 

Agriculture is central to Nestlé net zero goals as it accounts for nearly two-thirds of Nestlé’s total greenhouse gas emissions, with dairy and livestock making up about half of that.   

To reduce its dairy footprint, the company has committed to start working with 30 reference dairy farms in 12 countries to test scalable, climate-friendly and regenerative agricultural practices that help achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions.  

Nestlé is also working with farmers to select and cultivate nutritious and tasty pulse varieties to be used as milk alternatives.  

It has also committed to supporting improved and diversified farmer incomes through its sustainability programs and pledged to will implement new living income programs for farmers in its value chain to make farming more attractive. 

Nestlé’s announcement is being made in the lead up to the UN Food Systems Summit in New York, as part of Nestle’s contribution to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. 

 It also follows the recent report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shows the climate crisis is intensifying. 

“With our long-standing partnerships with farming communities globally, we want to increase our support for farming practices that are good for the environment and good for people,” said Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO.

“In the spirit of enabling a just transition, it is vital that we support farmers around the world that take on the risks and costs associated with the move towards regenerative agriculture.” 

Nestlé is investing CHF 1.2 billion over the next five years to spark regenerative agriculture across the company’s supply chain.   

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