Partnership brief

Executive summary

Mission

To acquire, protect, regenerate and pass on French farmland, while supporting the people who farm it.

Problem

Soils are losing their functions without their price reflecting it, farm succession is fragile, and the long time needed for regeneration falls outside economic and political cycles.

Approach

A private, independent foundation that owns or protects land, leases it to autonomous farmers, funds research and training, and reports on its results.

Ambition

To protect 30% of French farmland within fifty years, 15% of it owned outright. The funding need is estimated at $118.75B over fifty years, as working assumptions. See the breakdown by programme

Thirty-six-month roadmap

This roadmap is indicative: it will be adjusted as each stage is completed.

Months 0 to 12

Set up
- Form the body that safeguards the mission and the founding team
- Adopt the doctrine: principles, rules on sales, conflict-of-interest prevention
- Bring together the first funders and set the rules for accepting gifts
- Decide on the selection criteria for the pilot region
Months 12 to 24

Prepare the pilot
- Choose a region and a farm facing a succession challenge
- Carry out land, legal, agricultural, environmental and economic analyses
- Set up the scientific council and the farmers’ council in preliminary form
- Submit the investment decision to the competent body
Months 24 to 36

Launch the pilot
- Complete the acquisition under the applicable legal procedures
- Sign the contract with the farmer and start the support programme
- Establish the baseline for soils and monitoring indicators
- Publish a first progress report and prepare the independent evaluation

The first pilot project

Before any expansion, SOLUM tests the whole process: from identification to acquisition, from acquisition to the contract with the farmer, then from the contract to monitoring. The pilot must show under which conditions the model can be replicated, not prove its success at any cost.

Area and selection criteria

Farms at risk of disappearing for lack of a successor
Land pressure and risk of change of use
Agronomic quality and soil constraints
Climate vulnerability: water, temperatures, extreme events
Economic needs of local farmers
Agricultural, scientific and institutional partners on site
Legal feasibility of the operations
Full cost: acquiring, managing and supporting
Potential for transferable learning

Stages

Identification
Pre-qualification
Land and legal analysis
Agricultural and environmental diagnosis
Economic analysis
Stakeholder analysis
Investment decision
Acquisition
Management
Monitoring

Budget items

The pilot budget will be set once the site has been chosen. It will cover six items:

Item	Content
Acquisition	Price, fees, appraisals, legal and tax costs.
Preliminary studies	Legal, agronomic, environmental and economic analyses.
Support	Investment, technical advice and risk sharing with the farmer.
Scientific monitoring	Soil baseline, measurements and monitoring protocols.
Evaluation	Independent evaluation after a first operating period.
Reserve	Continuity of commitments and contingencies.

Expected results

Documented answers to six questions, followed by an independent evaluation:

Were the legal timelines correctly anticipated?
Are costs in line with forecasts?
Does the contract meet the farmer’s needs?
Did the governance mechanisms work?
Can monitoring data be collected without a disproportionate burden?
What should be improved before replicating the model?

Use of funds

For the first stage, set-up and pilot project, funds are split across seven items. The long-term fifty-year model is detailed on the programmes page.

Item	What it funds
Land	Acquisition of the pilot site and its fees.
Studies	Legal, agronomic, environmental and economic analyses.
Team	The founding team and expertise in rural law, agronomy and finance.
Audit and oversight	Independent financial oversight, audits and compliance.
Research	Soil baseline, monitoring protocols and scientific partnerships.
Farmer support	Investment, technical advice and risk sharing with the farmer.
Reserves	Continuity of commitments, so that no essential land ever has to be sold.

Independence and no speculation

Commitments

An acquisition is never made primarily for capital gain.
Land stays agricultural and is leased to independent farmers.
No distribution to executives or founders.
Proceeds from any sale remain dedicated to the mission.
Acquisitions are always voluntary, on fair terms.

Rules for funders

A donor supports a mission: they buy neither land nor conclusions.
No dependence on a single funder.
Clear rules for accepting gifts and checking their origin.
No say for any funder over scientific results.
These rules apply first of all to the founders.

Planned governance

Defining the mission, managing, overseeing and evaluating are not in the same hands.

Body that safeguards the mission

Sets direction, approves major commitments and oversees risk, without running day-to-day operations.

Executive management

Runs operations, separate from those who oversee it.

Scientific council

External reviews, declared conflicts of interest, publication rules set before projects begin.

Farmers’ council

Gives formal opinions on direction and flags difficulties on the ground.

Independent financial oversight

Checks the accounts and that commitments are kept.

Changing the mission, selling strategic land or committing exceptional resources requires a qualified majority, an independent analysis and a cooling-off period.

Documents

The founding essay, France Beneath Our Feet, can be read online in English and French. Read the essay