I-Corps: Ecological Asset Tradeoffs

University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of technology to enable farmers with as little as one hectare of land to participate in global carbon and ecosystem services markets supporting their transition from traditional, degrading farming practices (e.g., monocrops and dependence on fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides) to regenerative farming practices (e.g., agroforestry, low-till, and naturally nutritious, healthy soil) by offering companies the opportunity to meet their sustainability goals through the purchase of practice-based ecological assets. Although the market for these types of ecological assets has not yet been tested, the demand for carbon credits and other ecosystem services is growing rapidly. Current carbon credit origination costs are too expensive for small projects, only making financial sense beyond 1200 hectares in most cases. This technology will unlock the ability for the roughly 5 million small-holder farmers (farmers with only a few hectares of land) around the world to participate in these markets, scaling supply to meet the current demand and making meaningful progress toward climate goals. This I-Corps project is based on the development of practice-based methodologies for verifying changes in ecological state using human-sensing (images and data recorded via smartphones), sky-sensing (satellite and drone images), remote-sensing (internet of things devices and sensors) and reputational-sensing (community accreditation of trustworthy projects). This project is developing a sustainable and scalable model for issuing practice-based ecological assets using decentralized, digital forms of measurement, reporting, and verification of ecosystem services. The technology is a platform to collect, synthesize, and share verifiable carbon sequestration data from international small-scale farmers. This approach reduces costs and increases climate action by leveraging often-overlooked small-holder farmers and technology readily available to them (more affordable, on their mobile phones, and via satellite imaging), to prove their conversion to regenerative practices. It also places data immutably on-chain as Proof-of-Impact (lower cost and more transparent than current methods). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.