November 13, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

With total global production of 787,293,867 tons in 2021, rice is a staple food for a significant portion of the global population and plays a crucial role in providing nutrition and food security. As it plays such a important role in the global agricultural system, rice production is one of the most crucial sectors to focus on in terms of food security and the reduction of emissions. 

When thinking of the world’s grain production, the mind often immediately jumps to consider how that year’s corn and soybean crops are progressing. However, although corn is the most-grown grain crop in the world, the majority of that production is siphoned toward uses other than direct human consumption. It is rice that is the most critical crop for human consumption, providing more than half the world’s population with their main staple food.

Researchers in China and Japan discovered that levels of protein, iron, and zinc all declined significantly in growing conditions with CO2 levels that mimic concentrations that are expected to be reached in the coming 50 years. These findings have prompted scientists to warn that critical health crises could be on the horizon for billions of people, especially those in poorer nations.

Given mankind’s high dependence on this single grain, along with warnings that climate change could deeply affect its nutrition profile, and the loss of arable farmland to encroaching urbanization and pollution, it falls to technological advances to ensure a healthy future for rice, and therefore, humans.

CarbonFarm Technology, a French climate tech startup with expertise in satellite imagery and artificial intelligence, announced it has successfully raised EUR 2.5 million ($2.67 million) in support of its mission to decarbonize rice farming. 

Founded in 2022 by Vassily Carantino, a leader in data science and sustainability who serves as the company CEO, and James Hastwell, who is the company’s CTO, CarbonFarm Technology is committed to make regenerative farming sustainable for farmers. 

“CarbonFarm’s mission is to make regenerative agriculture profitable for farmers while helping corporations achieve their net-zero goals,” stated the company on its website. “We make access to carbon markets easy for farmers and agribusinesses and provide end-to-end support: from project design, satellite-based MRV, to handling certification and credit sales. For corporations, we offer trustworthy, registry-certified, and satellite-verified credits to offset emissions.”

Over the past year, the company rapidly expanded its operations, collaborating with industry leaders on transformative projects across the world’s key rice producing countries: Vietnam, India, Spain, Portugal, and Ghana.

It has already initiated Vietnam’s first rice-based carbon project, and is actively contributing as an MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) provider under the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) pioneering Article 6.2 carbon project in Ghana. 

CarbonFarm Technology expressed their enthusiasm for securing this funding, which it stated will enable it to extend its reach and impact, particularly in Asia, Africa, and South America, where shifts in agricultural practices could have the most significant impacts on the environment. 

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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