Beneath the Ground, Life: SWEN Terra's Case for Soil Regeneration

The more we dug, the clearer the picture became.

The system is running on empty

Ecologically. Decades of conventional farming have treated soil as little more than a substrate, something to be fed chemicals, dosed with biocides and pesticides to keep weeds and pests at bay, and loaded with fertilizers to make crops grow. The soil absorbed it all. The result: agricultural soil quality has deteriorated sharply, and two-thirds of European farmland is now considered in poor health.

Economically. Input costs have soared, particularly synthetic inputs tied to gas prices, which spiked sharply following the conflicts in Ukraine and beyond. Meanwhile, yields have stagnated and grown increasingly volatile as degraded soils lose their resilience to climate shocks. Costs up, yields flat, and consumers unwilling to pay more.

Socially. Farming remains the only sector where living at your workplace is the norm, where family members work without pay, and where handing the business to your children is simply assumed. That model is breaking down. Research increasingly links the blurring of personal and professional life to high rates of farmer distress. And family succession is happening less and less.

This generational shift brings opportunity with it.

The opportunity to change the system entirely.

SWEN CP’s approach is not to pass judgment on conventional agriculture. That model was developed in France after World War II out of urgent necessit, feeding a population was the priority, and given the knowledge and challenges of the time, it made sense. But times have changed. So has the science. And this generational transition creates a real opportunity to move, with the next generation of farmers, and with those current operators who are ready, toward a regenerative model.

Our commitment is to invest in these farming entrepreneurs: people who are driving direct, tangible change toward agroecology. To give them the means to make the transition to regenerative agriculture, agriculture that actively fights climate change and biodiversity loss, while delivering stronger economic returns.

In France alone, an estimated two billion euros is missing to finance agricultural transitions. To buy the land for a hundred-hectare almond orchard, plant the trees, and cover operating costs until the first harvest, you’re looking at seven to eight million euros per project. This is a capital-intensive sector. Every investment has to be structured carefully.

They were also the first people to talk to us about regenerative agriculture, several years ago now. We visited their farm south of Toulouse and saw the transformation with our own eyes. It opened our eyes to a whole set of initiatives that simply needed backing, needed capital. Today, with SWEN Terra’s investment behind them, Martin and Boris can acquire new farms to regenerate.

With the SWEN Terra fund, the utopia of “Beneath the Ground, Life” is already becoming real.

Interview conducted by Juliette Reinhart