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BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram

KARBONMAT: Designing sustainable business model (SBM) concepts for carbon sequestration in soils to transform the Norwegian food system

Alternative title: KARBONMAT: Utforming av bærekraftige forretningsmodell-konsepter for karbonbinding i jord for omstilling av det norske matsystemet

Awarded: NOK 12.0 mill.

The aim of Karbonmat is to design sustainable business model (SBM) concepts for carbon sequestering soil management practices. The project has carried out a wide range of scientific activities in the first year. In January 2024, Karbonmat arranged a physical kick off meeting in Trondheim where all project partners participated including national and international partners. The kick off meeting was followed by a guest lecture by Jonathan Verschuuren from Tilburg University entitled “Carbon farming with a focus on soil carbon sequestration, the role of law”. Several work packages have initiated their work. In work package 1 a new type of compost has been spread on agricultural fields of the involved test farmers in the project. In addition, Grønt Fagsenter Buskerud arranged an internal seminar on soil health to strengthen the interdisciplinary collaboration and understanding of the project team. Ruralis presented the project at webinar series arranged by Grønt Kompetansenter Mære - Skjetlein entitled digital farm visits with a regenerative component. Work package 2 has initiated a collective collection of legal and policy frameworks at regional, national and international level that may influence the design of SBM concepts. Furthermore, case studies of companies with business models valorising carbon in soils, have been identified. Karbonmat has started a desk analysis of these and is currently carrying out the first fieldwork consisting of interviews with carbon valorising initiatives in Germany and Austria. The project has also conducted a stakeholder analysis and recruited additional members to the Multi Actor Panel (MAP) group. The MAP group consists of stakeholders from research and development, agriculture, finance and insurance sector. The meeting took place physically at Grønt Fagsenter Busekrud and included also a visit to some of the involved test farms to learn more about soil health and carbon sequestration of agricultural soils in practice. In addition, the project has hired a film producer who joined the first MAP-meeting and will make an informational movie about the project.

Food system transformation is key to addressing multiple interlocking sustainability challenges, whilst continuing to provide safe food and rural economic opportunities. However, at present, food systems contribute to exacerbating these challenges. There is a crucial need for innovation in the food systems to enable transition towards more sustainable practices. However, one key dimension, which has largely been neglected, is soil. Soil with its multitude of organisms provides ecosystem services and sustains food production systems, which makes it necessary to put soil at the centre of sustainable food system transformations. There is a need for adopting soil management practices that improve the carbon capture, microbial biodiversity and thus productivity of soils for more sustainable primary production. Sequestering more carbon in soils appears to be a highly promising management practice. It has been shown to have multiple benefits on soil productivity. There are a wide range of soil management practices that can increase carbon in soils. Nevertheless, these have proven to be costly for famers. As a result, adoption of sustainable soil health management practices remains low in Norway and elsewhere. Hence, there is a pressing need for new regulatory frameworks, and innovative business models to ensure that farmers are paid for their effort. In KARBONMAT we argue that this can be done through the development of sustainable business models (SBMs) for carbon sequestering soil management practices that are co-developed with stakeholders. The project applies a highly interdisciplinary approach encompassing both social and natural sciences. In co-production with relevant stakeholders, KARBONMAT designs SBM concepts for carbon sequestering soils in Norwegian agriculture as a novel socio-technical practice that promotes the transition towards more sustainable food systems.

Funding scheme:

BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram