Seventy years ago, Japanese farmer Masunobu Fukuoka pioneered a technique called ‘natural
farming’ which allowed crops to thrive in a natural environment - no fields of straight
lines, no tilling, and crucially, no pesticides or fertilisers.
Farmers like Panos Manikis here in Greece say that this produces better crops without
depleting the soil.
That fertility and water retention capacity go up as well as incomes, due to diversification
and intercropping.
This style of ‘less is more’ agriculture has recently broken into the mainstream, especially
in India.
In the state of Andhra Pradesh, a programme of training aims to roll this approach out
to all 6 million farmers working in the state.
The United Nations is currently supporting a study on natural farming and, so far, evidence
shows positive effects not only on food security but also on climate change resilience.
But it is this last point that rarely gets included in economic decision making.
Can you put a price on nature?
Yes, of course you can, and this same critical valuation exercise is now being undertaken
across the world as investors wake up to the concept that over 50% of our economy is dependent
on “natural capital”.
Natural capital includes all of the earth’s resources - soils, forests, water reserves,
ores and minerals.
It forms the basis for “services” like pollination - which supports 577 billion dollars’
worth of crops, and it is the basis or inspiration for 63% of drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.
Natural capital also forms the bedrock of tourism and the value of real estate.
So, what does this mean for industries which historically have operated in a ‘take-make-waste’
fashion?
Every year 92 billion tonnes of natural resources are extracted to support industries and our
consumption based lifestyle.
Less than 9% is cycled back into the economy.
Left unchecked, our natural capital will be eradicated, in effect, our economy will have
cannibalised itself.
We won’t be able to completely revert our world to its natural state, but there are
ideas we can take from natural farming by reflecting on our destruction of the natural
world.
There are also innovations and new business models that are emerging from the circular
bioeconomy, where we are using cutting edge technology to unlock ancient secrets perfected
by nature over 2 billion years of evolution.
In the construction industry, as much as 20% of steel and concrete can be substituted by
glued laminated timber, a fully renewable resource.
In the textiles industry, it is now possible to dye clothes in a process that uses no water
at all, and no chemicals other than the dyes themselves.
Similarly, a transition to a sharing economy can radically reduce material requirements.
And crucially, because of ‘natural capital’s’ unique CO2 sequestration capabilities, it
has substantial unrealised value as we transition to Net Zero emissions.
We can move to a circular bio-economy that harnesses and preserves nature through a leaner
form of industry - the innovation already exists and is improving every year.