A new 9-month Sustainable Agriculture Collaboration has been launched by the Sustainable Food Trust, Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF) and Hummingbird Technologies with funding from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund.
The project aims to revolutionise the way farmers report on and measure sustainability, including creating a new tool and automating data collection with a view to creating an output dashboard. The project is being led by Hummingbird Technologies, who will develop and build a web application and underlying models from the existing LEAF and SFT tools.
Will Wells, Founder & CEO of Hummingbird, commented, “We are delighted to be working with both LEAF and SFT on this project. We see the need for this kind of sustainability monitoring tool in every country we operate in and it couldn’t be more timely given the global pressures on agriculture and the focus on a greener and cleaner future.”
Caroline Drummond MBE, LEAF Chief Executive, added, “This ground-breaking project will provide a unique opportunity to drive change and harmonisation, taking our work in sustainability monitoring and impact measurement to another level. Technology has developed exponentially over the last 20 years and we are excited to be working with Hummingbird Technologies and the Sustainable Food Trust to maximise our complimentary skills and capabilities. This work is set to make a significant contribution in supporting farmers and the wider food chain, in delivering meaningful and informed change through enhanced sustainability metrics.”
Patrick Holden, Sustainable Food Trust Chief Executive, said, “Farmers need to be empowered to play a key role in addressing issues such as climate change, soil degradation and biodiversity loss. We believe this tool could have multiple exciting uses, as part of future government support schemes as well as improving supply chain transparency and look forward to working with the team to build on this opportunity.”
Photo caption: Caroline Drummond called the new project “ground-breaking.”
Photo source: LEAF