On the one hand the agricultural sector is crucial to the survival of humanity, providing vital sustenance for the planet’s growing population. On the other hand the sector is also responsible for well over a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases (if deforestation is included) and numerous other environmental impacts.

It is also a sector in which the fundamentals of supply and demand suggest there is enormous investment potential in the coming years. Bringing investment capital to bear in a sustainable manner to improve productivity and reduce environmental impacts could hold the key some of the world’s most challenging issues.

At Consortium Land we believe passionately that the corporatisation of agriculture can be a force for good. We express this belief by pursuing sustainable triple bottom line returns on behalf of our clients. This means optimising investment performance without compromising the wellbeing of our planet and the people and other life it supports. We achieve this by constantly reviewing our internal procedures according to the three core principles of sustainable investing:

1. People – Consideration of social impacts.
2. Planet – Consideration of environmental impacts.
3. Profit – Consideration of financial objectives.

Consortium Land takes real and practical steps to pursue these principles at every level of our agricultural management activities. We conform at all times with national and international legislation and industry environment standards. In Australia for example, all of our leases mandate minimum tillage and other sustainable land management practices including, where applicable, stipulating rotational cropping requirements and limits on stocking rates.

Food shortages and malnutrition are an ever present reminder of the work that still needs to be done by the agribusiness sector. According to the World Bank the number of undernourished people in the world exceeded 100 million people by the end of the last decade. Without sufficient investment in agriculture this trend will only worsen in the coming years.

Agricultural investment done right has the potential to be a highly rewarding investment not only financially, but also socially. Investors often incorrectly assume that any strategy which takes account of social and environmental factors (“People” and “Planet”) implies the need to make sacrifices when it comes to financial reward (“Profit”).

At Consortium Land, we believe that rather than being in conflict, a holistic approach to these priorities can actually act to enhance investment returns. This is especially true in light of the increasingly robust government policies incentivising protection of the environment (in particular with respect to carbon costs and renewable energy incentives) and a more socially aware consumer base.

Click here to find out more about how this philosophy influences our decision making processes.