Walmart invests $2m in US regenerative cotton
Walmart Foundation, the charitable arm of US-based retailer Walmart, has granted North Carolinian agricultural association the Soil Health Institute an award of $2 million over three years to support scaling and expansion of its directly operated US Regenerative Cotton Fund.
The intention is to use the monies to roll out the farmer-facing initiative across South Carolina and Alabama.
Chief sustainability officer and executive vice-president at Walmart, as well as Walmart Foundation president, Kathleen McLaughlin, discussed the “significant benefits” bound up with regenerative soil health systems, yet reflected on how adoption of such practices still remains at a low level.
Launched in 2021 with a founding grant from the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation, the US Regenerative Cotton Fund has thus far engaged in activities in Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi. It has already established farmer-to-farmer education networks with over 100 cotton farmers and sampled soil in more than 200 locations for the purpose of developing soil health and soil carbon targets, among other milestones.
“We are excited to support this ambitious project to support farmers with the resources and tools they need to adopt more regenerative systems and accurately measure the outcomes of these practices for their land and livelihoods,” said Ms McLaughlin.
