Seeding Sustainability: Agriculture Innovations to Feed Future Generations

The agriculture industry will need to feed a projected 10 billion people by 2050. Project teams are transforming production to meet this demand—finding climate-friendly ways to maximize yields. We discuss this with: 

Lucia von Reusner, carbon technical lead, Regrow Ag, Boulder, Colorado, United States: von Reusner is working with Cargill to help the food and agriculture giant reduce carbon emissions throughout its supply chain. She also shares how her team builds buy-in from farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices, changing sometimes generations-held practices.

Ahmad Hammoud, head of operations for the Gulf Cooperation Council region, Alesca Life, Dubai: Hammoud is collaborating with hospitality groups and residential developers to build indoor farms in Dubai. He explains how these tech-fueled farms boost the amount of fresh produce grown in a challenging climate, and how teams are educating students and Dubai residents on today’s opportunities in the agriculture sector.

LUCIA VON REUSNER 
I think it’s just really clear that the way that we have been using land and global resources is inherently unsustainable. It’s extractive, it’s polluting, it’s not caretaking. And there is a need to find a way to better use our land through a lens of stewardship rather than extraction.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 
When it comes to climate change, no industry has more at stake than agriculture. It made us wonder: How are project teams using tech innovations to cultivate sustainability and revolutionize production? Let’s dig in.

In today’s fast-paced and complex business landscape, project professionals lead the way, delivering value while tackling critical challenges and embracing innovative ways of working. On Projectified^®, we bring you insights from the project management community to help you thrive in this evolving world of work through real-world stories and strategies, inspiring you to advance your career and make a positive impact.

This is Projectified. I’m Steve Hendershot.

The agriculture industry will need to feed a projected 10 billion people by 2050, according to the World Bank. So how can farmers transform production methods to maximize crop yields and function sustainably? It’s a delicate balance that requires addressing a couple of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: getting to zero hunger while also achieving responsible consumption and production.

In response, agtech project teams are innovating. They’re experimenting with new technologies and operational approaches to push their industry forward while making a positive social impact. You can visit PMI.org/podcast and click the transcript for this episode to see resources on how you can make a positive social impact, too.

Now, let’s speak with a couple of the project leaders at the forefront of this agtech revolution. We start in Boulder, Colorado, in the United States, with Lucia von Reusner, the carbon technical lead at Regrow Ag. The company develops tech tools to help organizations across sectors adapt their agricultural supply chains. Plus, the tech can help farmers adjust their practices to become more climate-friendly and regenerate soil. Lucia works to ensure that those practices and strategies meet global standards for controlling carbon emissions.

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STEVE HENDERSHOT 
Thanks for joining us, Lucia. First, why is it important for agriculture companies to take a look not only at the sustainability of their own operations but also the sustainability of their entire supply chain? And what are some of the challenges that come with that approach?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
Agriculture is a leading driver of global climate emissions, but a key challenge is that there are millions of farmers all around the world feeding into hundreds, if not thousands, of supply chains being sold to millions of consumers around the world. And each actor in the supply chain has a different role to play in driving this change, but no individual actor can do it on their own. And so for the majority of food and ag companies, the bulk of their carbon emissions actually come from their Scope 3 supply chains; around 90% of their emissions come from the farm level. A core challenge that is being faced is how to coordinate and align all the actors within the supply chain around a common goal and around a common set of practices that need to be changed. And then how to actually enroll all these millions of farmers, persuading them to change those practices on the field. And then how do you actually verifiably track and quantify the impacts in a way that is credible, high integrity and can really build trust, not just with the public but with all actors in supply chain, that their work is actually driving real change on the ground on this big issue—climate change—that impacts all of us?
 
STEVE HENDERSHOT 
So what’s the process like when you start working with a company? Is this a platform where people subscribe, and it facilitates all the doings? Or is this really bespoke?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
So I think at the early stage of any company, any initiative, a lot of the work is quite custom and manual. You’re working with a specific client with a specific set of farmers to trial a hypothesis and then refine that hypothesis and build a solution that works. But as a global tech company, our goal and our job is to really standardize and scale those solutions so that they are applicable on a global scale. While every project has its own individual nuances, whether it’s a grain farmer in Europe or in Australia, the core principles remain the same. And a lot of the core tech remains the same. The individual practices that farmers might adopt might vary, but the overarching structure can be scaled in the standard way.
 
STEVE HENDERSHOT 
Let’s dig into an example. You’ve been working with food and agriculture giant Cargill on its regenerative ag and decarbonization journey. What are the objectives for this program?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
Cargill has a goal of reducing emissions in their supply chain by 30% per ton of product sold by 2030 compared to 2017. They work with millions of farmers all around the world and also sell into many of the world’s largest brands. They really are that node in the supply chain that is able to touch many, many different actors and have a lot of influence, but was also early on its journey in trying to figure out how can we do this in [an] efficient, scalable way.

We started in year one of their RegenConnect program. It was just one corn program in a few states in North America. Now we have gone through year two and into year three, and the program now has over 1 million acres enrolled across three continents, which is a 900% growth, which is very, very impressive.
 
STEVE HENDERSHOT 
That sure is. Let’s break down what’s involved in these regenerative and decarbonization efforts. How does the team work with farmers to make changes to their agriculture practices?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
We rely on satellite imagery to be able to detect practice changes at scale on the field. So being able to detect things like the presence or absence of cover crops, tillage and a few other practices like that. And then we have a farmer-facing platform that makes enrolling farmers and identifying their field boundaries, their land ownership, and verifying the practices that we have identified by satellite imagery very easy. We use a biogeochemical model called DNDC (denitrification decomposition) that is able to model the interactions between soil microbes, field management practices [and] weather to quantify with extremely high accuracy the various greenhouse gas impacts of shifting management practices on the field.
 
STEVE HENDERSHOT 
So how do you decide which areas of the supply chain to focus your efforts on? Let’s continue with Cargill—the company works with farmers in the Midwest United States, Australia and across Europe. How are you narrowing down where to make changes? 
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
So when we work with food and ag companies, we really have two core products that are powered with the same engines of remote sensing and biogeochemical modeling to support companies. So the first is our sustainability insights platform, which is basically a carbon footprinting tool in which a company will upload their global supply chain and we will be able to run quantifications and identify essentially where the largest sources of greenhouse gas are coming from. That really helps them identify the highest opportunity for abatement projects to focus in on. Using that kind of carbon footprinting, Cargill’s able to narrow in on wanting to drive change in grain in the Midwest. So then we enrolled their farmers in our MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification) platform, and that is really the farmer-facing platform in which individual farmers will upload their field boundaries, their management practices, and where we will track at a field level the change that happens on a year-by-year basis, again, using this combination of satellite imagery and farmer-inputted practices, and then at the end of the year be able to run DNDC and quantify the greenhouse gas impact as a result of those intervention practices at the field level. 
 
STEVE HENDERSHOT 
What does the team look like? How do projects in this program get from the planning phase to execution?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
Cargill has a sustainability team, and in any carbon ag project, there’s an entity called the project developer. Sometimes that’s in house within a company if they have a large enough sustainability team, and sometimes it’s an externally hired project development group or consulting group. But that’s the group that’s really in charge of managing the on-the-ground pieces with farmers, including reaching out to the farmers, educating them, setting the right incentives, and then also choosing the right tools and technology to make the entire program run efficiently. In this case, Cargill really owned the relationships with farmers and had folks from their team that would go out, work with them, and also they were the ones to choose Regrow as the right partner.

Regrow also did spend quite a lot of time in the field with Cargill, going to some of these farmer meetings, really trying to understand how are farmers interacting with the products, what do they need, and just providing ongoing support along the way. Our team at Regrow really owns the monitoring, reporting and verification. So it’s really the node that’s responsible for capturing the data that would verify that the thing you say you’re doing to combat climate change is in fact happening. And then providing those high-integrity, well-quantified outputs.

Building buy-in for change when stakeholders have long-held processes

STEVE HENDERSHOT
There could be some challenges in getting farmers to tweak processes and practices that they have grown to trust over decades or generations. How do you as a team step in and work with them in a way that builds their confidence in trying something new?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
This is the key role that carbon markets are intended to play in the world of providing the right incentives and rewards for those entities that we are asking to make change, to actually do so in a way where they can be compensated for the work and that the risk of making the change doesn’t lie fully on their shoulders. That’s why having the role of a carbon markets team within the company to make sure that those projects do stand up to international scrutiny in markets and can in fact continue receiving the right rewards and incentives to get farmers to trust this journey is really, really key.

And then, having the data. The satellite imagery is something that we share with the project developers. The farmers input their data. We have a dashboard that’s farmer-facing where they can see their projected carbon emission as a result of adopting certain practices in their regions, and then they see the outcomes at the end of the year. The project developer is the entity that would work with the farmers to set up a contract ahead of the program to say essentially, “This is how we are compensating you and incentivizing you to make these practice changes.” Right now, a majority of these programs are voluntary, so it’s really up to the project developer to set the right incentives to bring a farmer in, and then to show throughout the program year that these practices actually do result in rewards for farmers, and that there are positive impacts as well in terms of soil health, water biodiversity, agricultural resilience and climate.

Tips for managing a project with diverse stakeholder groups

STEVE HENDERSHOT 
You’ve worked in this area for more than a decade. What are the big takeaways for you? And what are some lessons project professionals in any industry could take away from your experience?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
I think the number one is never assume that you know what the right answer is going to be for a diverse set of stakeholders. The importance of listening at the start of a project, and throughout a project, and really understanding what are the needs and concerns and incentive drivers and risks facing each set of stakeholders. So you want to start with a manageable pilot project to see really quickly as to whether your hypothesis is correct, if you’re actually misunderstanding the various stakeholder needs and concerns. And then just being able to break the project down to really clear milestones with well-defined timelines that are available in [an] accountable way that everyone can see and has access to.

I’ve spent the bulk of my career working to drive ambition and commitments in the food and ag industry to decarbonize and implement regenerative farming practices. These are huge, complex projects. We are trying to change our global climate, change our global food system, and having a really clear understanding of which stakeholders are needed in order to enact change on the ground, being very clear on what is the change that we are trying to enact on the ground, having really clear timelines and having key accountability. You want to make really sure that you understand the incentives that are going to keep the stakeholders in a project engaged and motivated in the long term.
 
STEVE HENDERSHOT 
What do you think will define the next wave of projects in the agriculture industry? What are you excited to see?
 
LUCIA VON REUSNER 
I’m really excited for the focus to go beyond carbon. Carbon is this common metric that does drive climate change, but there is so much more at stake in our agricultural system. And many of the practices such as cover cropping, reducing soil disturbance through reduced till, limiting nutrient management, over-application, these all have ripple-on effects into agriculture as a whole. And the need to make our entire agricultural system more resilient. So also focusing on soil health, improving water quality, improving biodiversity and improving farmer livelihoods, in addition to driving down carbon to combat climate change at a global scale.

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STEVE HENDERSHOT 
Are you enjoying this episode? Please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. Your feedback helps us keep making this show. Now, let’s go to our next conversation.

Traditional farming is part of the equation. Other project teams are developing radically new approaches to agriculture—such as farming indoors in places such as the Middle East, where climate and terrain limit conventional crop production. Ahmad Hammoud is head of operations for the Gulf Cooperation Council region at Alesca Life in Dubai. He leads projects that deliver tech-infused indoor farms. Ahmad spoke with Projectified’s Hannah LaBelle about how his team’s efforts result in a more sustainable local food economy. 

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HANNAH LABELLE 
Let’s start our conversation with Alesca Life and the types of farming projects that you and your teams are delivering. Why focus on these types of projects in the region you’re managing?

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
We build indoor farms, and we build everything that goes inside these farms, so from the hardware, the automation and then the software to run these farms. By doing that, we’re able to grow anywhere in the world, 365 days a year and with consistent quality without the use of any pesticides. Our mission as a company is to democratize access to these technologies. So what we’re focusing on is how can we make it more affordable while maintaining the quality of the equipment?

We develop the technology, and we partner with farms and with people who want to grow food. In Dubai, I mean, today we’re in the middle of the summer, the temperature can reach up to 50 degrees [Celsius] (122 degrees Fahrenheit). So you have six months of the year where you’re not able to grow anything. Because of indoor farming, you’re able to grow consistently throughout the year. That’s the solution that we have for the region in terms of food security, but also in terms of reducing the carbon footprint associated with imports. The projects in the region are focused mainly on the hotels and the hospitality sector. Dubai is such a vibrant city that attracts a lot of tourists, so there’s a lot of resorts. Because of that, we’re able to partner with these hotels and resorts and grow food inside the hotels. 

HANNAH LABELLE 
Reducing your carbon footprint is one impact these farming projects are making. How are the projects making an impact in Dubai and the UAE [United Arab Emirates]?

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
UAE is the perfect place to start for many reasons, and one of the reasons is that they import 85% of the food consumed here. During the past few years and throughout the pandemic, I think everyone realized that we have to localize food production more and more. And one of the answers is indoor farming. Now, indoor farms currently cannot grow everything, but with the advancement of technology, we’re able to go from like a few varieties of leafy greens to now 100, 150 varieties, and we’re moving slowly towards even different types of crops. Even things like animal fodder that will be used for the dairy industry. So from a food security perspective, the indoor farm has a lot of opportunity and also a lot of prospect for the future of this region. The other thing in the UAE is the leadership of the country is very clear on localizing food production, basically not to rely on imported food.

HANNAH LABELLE 
Tell me how these farms operate. What tech are your teams using—sensors, internet of things (IoT), all of that—and how is this style of farming changing the food production process?

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
This way of producing, it’s great in terms of water saving and it’s great in terms of labor efficiency, but it uses electricity. So that’s one area that is more expensive. And even in carbon footprint, we are impacting negatively in terms of electricity usage. We have to put capital upfront, and it has to be justified throughout the equipment life cycle. Because of that, we have to manage the farm and manage the operation in a way that is very efficient.

Now, how do we do that? We do it by, as you said, installing sensors. So we have to do what we call environment monitoring. We measure air temperature. We measure the CO2 level inside the farm. And then we measure things inside the water, so the conductivity of the water, which tells us how much nutrients are in the water, but also the acidity and the water temperature. Because of that, we’re able to give the plant exactly what it needs. So we’re, in a way, biohacking—helping the plant basically get access to nutrients as it needs, but we’re also able to stress the plant in a very similar way that the plants are stressed in nature. We do try to basically copy nature, and we do that with the sensors and the IoT devices. Everything is uploaded on the cloud, and usually our operators, they only go to the farm to harvest and to do the seeding. All the monitoring happens remotely, and because of that, we’re able to save a lot of labor efficiency. The other efficiency we have is water. We save 95% water compared to conventional farms, and we do that because we recirculate all the water. Now, if you’re in the outdoor farm, most of the water that is used in irrigation and even most of the fertilizer, and in some cases, the pesticides and herbicides that are used, are going to the soil. So they contaminate the soil. But also there’s a lot of waste of resources. And because we are a closed loop, we have a filtration system that cleans the water, goes back to the tank and then it gets pumped back to the plants. This is where initiatives like indoor farming can really help to have more sustainable agriculture.

Collaborating with partners to scale up—and share success

HANNAH LABELLE 
Let’s talk about who you’re working with to build these farms. You mentioned some hotel projects—what are those farms like and how do they get started?

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
We are enabling the hotel to grow their own food, and by doing that, they have now access to fresh, quality ingredients for their kitchen. But also they have a nice showcase that the clients can interact with. So they’re able to create new experiences out of this new space, something like a chef’s table or cooking class that is centered around ingredients that are sourced from this farm. We approach the hotel. We look for the location that they might want to set up the farm. We invest in the farm, so we put all the capital upfront—and this is something we do with one of our partners in the region. We just charge the hotel for the produce that they take. So instead of buying from outside, they just pay for it. This is how we can recoup our investments. Some of the hotels that we will be working with are the Hilton Group, Marriott Group, Jumeirah, Banyan Tree, One & Only, so many different groups, and the biggest groups actually in the region.

HANNAH LABELLE 
Okay, great. And you also have a second indoor farming model geared toward residential communities, right?

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
We’ve partnered with real estate developers—Emaar that built Burj Khalifa, the biggest building in the world, and Aldar [Properties] out of Abu Dhabi. We build these farms inside the residential communities, usually inside shipping containers because they’re very easy to move around and to install. We have subscriptions that local residents inside these communities can just sign up [for] and then receive their fresh produce once or twice a week, based on their preferences. Because we’re able to grow in the community, the shelf life when they receive the produce, I mean, it’s usually harvested and then a few hours later they receive it. So it can stay fresh, even if they don’t consume it immediately. And that’s the added advantage that we’re able to provide compared to even the centralized farms that are in the UAE. 

HANNAH LABELLE 
That’s a great way to reduce food waste. So when you’re creating one of these indoor farms, what would you say is the top challenge that you or the team faces? 

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
Depending on the market, the challenges can be different. So some markets, people still find it weird to eat food that is produced indoors. Some people say that it’s not natural because they don’t see it growing outside the way they’ve always seen food grow. But I guess one of the challenges right now for the industry is the variety of produce that we’re able to do in a way that is commercially viable. But as I said, this is changing quite fast, and it’s improving a lot.

HANNAH LABELLE 
What other metrics are you using to measure success? Obviously you have the energy consumption versus produce output, but is there anything else that you’re really looking at?

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
Every farm can be a little bit different. So for slightly bigger farms, these metrics become much more important. The energy per kg, manpower used per kg of output is also very important. In places where we set up in hotels and residential communities, the output per square meter or per square foot becomes very important. Because we have limited space, and we try to maximize the production out of the space that we are granted. And then quality is always the most important metric, I would say.

HANNAH LABELLE 
How are you and Alesca Life looking to future-proof these efforts to innovate food production with indoor farming? And how big of a role does education play in building buy-in from potential customers or the wider public? 

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
In the UAE, we’ve had the COP 28, and we have had 30,000 people visit our farm that was in Expo City Dubai. We also continued working with schools, doing internships that are centered around the farm but also doing more activities beyond. And now we’re in discussion with Expo City to keep the farm for next year and to engage in a program with the Dubai education sector and the ministries here.

Usually, the excitement we get from the teachers and from the students and from their parents, it’s not just that it’s about agriculture, but it’s also showing how agriculture is changing. So if you want to be an engineer, if you want to be a data scientist, if you want to be a marketeer, we can show you how you can do it in an indoor farm. I’m not from a farming industry. I’m not from the agriculture industry, but I found it a very interesting field. I’m able to use a lot of what I’ve learned managing factories inside the farm. There’s a lot of different opportunities for students and, yeah, for future generations.

HANNAH LABELLE 
Ahmad, thank you so much. This has been great.

AHMAD HAMMOUD 
Thank you, Hannah. Thank you. 

STEVE HENDERSHOT

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