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The Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have announced a collaboration to promote and implement regenerative agriculture and habitat conservation in agricultural supply chains. According to LDC and TNC, the global agri-food system accounts for 31% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and agricultural expansion is responsible for 88% of native habitat loss globally. The collaboration aims to accelerate the shift from commitment to the application of a “net-zero, nature-positive role for agri-commodities". LDC’s plan targets a minimum of 3 million acres by 2030, reaching out to around 30,000 farmers, with a focus on the adoption of agricultural practices that improve soil health, restore aquifers, promote biodiversity and mitigate climate change. Axelle Bodoy, head of regenerative agriculture for LDC, said: “Through large-scale projects at the landscape level around some key LDC facilities, we intend to aggregate cross-crop rotation and cross-value chain collaboration with like-minded partners upstream and downstream. With TNC’s support, we are ideally positioned to understand farmers’ needs and support the adoption of relevant innovations, co-design programs with farmers and other value chain partners to lead the development of more resilient, future-proofed agronomic systems, and provide robust, credible and ambitious ESG impacts for our supply chain partners.” The collaboration focuses on two main features: regenerative agriculture and deforestation-and-conversion-free (DCF) production. Both companies will collaborate to implement LDC's regenerative agriculture strategy, which includes programming, financing and impact accounting. The focus will be on significant initiatives in North America, Brazil and Argentina. This involves joint assessments of existing regenerative agriculture projects to identify opportunities for collaboration and expansion throughout the value chains. Additionally, there will be formalisation and expansion of the existing collaboration between TNC and LDC, specifically concerning DCF production. This aims to support LDC's global commitment to DCF, with a focus on creating incentive mechanisms for farmers and enhancing monitoring and reporting of the implementation process. Jennifer Morris, CEO of TNC, said: "A successful transformation of the global food system is imperative to address the climate crisis and halt biodiversity loss. In order to see real change, the full value chain needs to be engaged – from farmers to traders to retailers. We are inspired by the steps that LDC has already taken and look forward to scaling these practices to eliminate deforestation and habitat conversion from commodity production on a global scale. Collective action in this sector is imperative to unlock benefits for both people and nature." Bodoy added: “As we pursue our regenerative agriculture strategy, we are thrilled to be working with TNC, which brings a science-based approach and decades of experience in building and scaling resilient food systems that benefit both people and the planet.” LDC, TNC and local agronomists and project implementers also continue to develop pilot projects in other supply chains, such as citrus in Brazil and coffee in Vietnam, Indonesia, Uganda and other origins.