Another Restore Journey Begins
Sweating through to the end of 2024’s summer with the hottest July ever recorded, global farmers, food producers, F&B businesses, and consumers are facing the consequences of climate change. Since 2022, the Restore Fund has been established to serve as a catalyst for regenerative agriculture in Asia, pushing for climate-smart farming practices and healthier food that sequesters carbon to strengthen food safety, security, and sovereignty. After seeing enormous results from our past recipients, it’s given the regenerative farming community here in Hong Kong great encouragement to keep the momentum going. Without further ado, we are thrilled to announce our Restore ‘24-’25 farmer recipients:
Grow Something (new grantee)
Sangwoodgoon
Organic Farmula
Cham Shan
Eva’s Farm
Noah’s Forest
Regenerative farming in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is home to over 2,000 farms employing 4,000 workers, and so these farms remain crucial to the survival of this city’s local food economy. ZFPA’s Restore Fund allows all stakeholders from the supply chain to participate in collective regeneration and climate action through supporting farmers without a fuss. Continuing the programme allows us to build on the progress already made with previous grantees, streamlining the transition to regenerative agriculture such that these farms can eventually grow high quality, nutritious foods without funding.
Returning grantees:
This year, we are excited to see a handful of returning grantees joining the fund once again, bringing the knowledge and techniques learned in previous years with them to complete their transition journey whilst sharing their case studies with new grantees.
Returning Grantees (Sangwoodgoon, Cham Shan Farm, Organic Farmula, Noah’s Forest and Eva’s Farm)
All of our returning grantees have seen improvements such as longer harvest periods, reduced pest and disease issues, and healthier crops, but still, they are not immune to mother nature’s wrath. Erratic and unpredictable weather caused by climate change has made farming more complicated, hence empowering farmers to a regenerative transition for climate risk mitigation and adaptation is an ongoing assignment.
“I think the biggest challenge would be climate change, especially in recent years. The weather is very unpredictable and it directly affects my crops.” - Cham Shan Farm
New grantee:
We are also welcoming new grantee to the Restore Fund, who are joining with the hopes of learning more about regenerative agriculture in the local context, while also aiming to see its effects at their farms, tackling problems such as sandy soil, pests and diseases.
“We want to learn more about the regenerative practices and see how to improve soil health, and become more efficient in our growing.” - Grow Something
Grow Something will be joining a community of stewards, working towards the same goal of growing better food while protecting and restoring our ecosystems. We are glad to see returning grantees steadily flourishing and we look forward to passing these same successes onto this next year’s grantees!
Selection Process, Farm Visit, and Interviews
Same as last year, our selection committee is composed of experts in the food, sustainability, and agricultural industry. Their expertise is valuable to help us determine the readiness and scalability of the applicants. This year, we invited Living Soil Asia from Singapore as new members of the committee. The Living Soil team are avid educators of soil health in Singapore, they have hosted workshops and courses to promote regenerative farming. Given the similar situation of HK and SG, Living Soil Asia has provided valuable insights to the selection process.
Let us reiterate our selection criteria:
Degree of soil health improvement
Opportunity for enhancing both below-ground and above-ground biodiversity
Readiness for implementation
Possibility for increasing soil carbon sequestration potentials
As we have new applicants this year, visiting their farms and conducting interviews are the best way to fully grasp their situation and whether they match our selection criteria for the funding. For instance, our soil expert Mrs Mak from Homeland Green visited Grow Something where she learned more about how they farm, operate their farm, soil condition, and identified possible trajectory for regenerative implementation. Interviews with new applicants are also crucial to explain the possible challenges and cultural shifts they may face once the funding is approved. Nonetheless, we reassure them there will be sufficient technical help from our consultants and TAPs to effectively assist them in a smooth transition.
TAPs:
Our Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) are one of the reasons for the program’s success. For the past year, our TAPs provided important documentation, data collection, and monitoring through the Restore Fund. For example, as our HLG consultants might not be at the farm all the time, frequent visits from the TAPs can help provide immediate recommendations to possible obstacles; regular data collection also helps us track soil condition throughout the year and share positive test results to all that reinforces their confidence in the process.
In the year to come, old and new TAPs will continue to help catalyse the transition to regenerative practices in Hong Kong.
Final Words:
We wish to congratulate our ‘24-’25 grantees who show sincere interest in climate-smart farming. Together, we will lead the regenerative movement in Asia and tackle the climate crisis one acre at a time. Stay tuned for more groundbreaking updates and check out our grantees’ profile pages!
