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Restore Fund

Application Period:
April 1 - May 1, 2022

The Restore with ZFPA program serves as a catalyst for city, national, and regional efforts to subsidize regenerative farmers helping to increase the beneficial ecosystem services provided by agriculture - specifically to advance climate action via improvements in soil health and sequestering atmospheric carbon.

Since June 2021, ZFPA has been collecting pledges and donations from restaurants and supporting partners for the Restore Fund.

Application & Guidelines

Why is the Restore Fund necessary?

As the climate crisis deepens, farmers are being hit first and hardest. Ancestral foodways know healthy soil is the building block for healthy ingredients and a balanced ecosystem. But to have farmers implement regenerative practices requires subsidies and a ripe consumer market that demands for regeneratively-grown foods.

Zero Foodprint Asia works on both of these fronts. The Restore Fund helps to set the trajectory for a renewable food future that honours the work of farmers not only as food producers, but as stewards to our planet's ecosystem.

How will farmers benefit from this program?

To help your farm transition to regenerative farming, you will be paired with a Technical Assistant Provider, or Soil Health Advisor.

Short-term and long-term benefits to adopting regenerative practices include (but not limited to):

healthier soil is correlated with tastier, more
nutrient-dense produce
reduces vulnerability to droughts and floods,
crops become more resilient to climate change
healthier soil boosts plant-defence mechanisms, making plants more resistant and/ less attractive to pests, minimizing loss for farmers
input costs are reduced, allowing for agricultural businesses to become more profitable
increases the % of food grown locally, strengthening local food ways and food security

Together with soil scientists, we help measure the increase in soil microbiology and track the carbon sequestration potentials on your farms over time.
This is for the purpose of:

data collection of the impacts that regenerative practices have on Asia's soils
advancing scientific modelling of regenerative applications on Asia's soils
communicating progress on the farm, allowing farmers to visualize the impacts

Selection Process

Grants will be awarded primarily on the basis of:

the degree of soil improvement
the opportunity for enhancing both below ground and above ground microbiology and biodiversity
the readiness for implementation
the possibility for increasing soil carbon sequestration potentials

Funding

The annual maximum grant is HKD150,000
The minimum grant request is HKD20,000
The Technical Assistance Provider (TAP) budget is in addition to the grant amount and is capped at 20% of the grant amount

Eligibility

All managers and owners of agricultural operations in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area are eligible to apply.
Applications must include at least 1 approved management practice (see: Appendix B in the application PDF below).
Applicants must commit to operating on the approved farm site pesticide-free.
The applicant farm or ranch grows products for human consumption as food or beverage.
A TAP and estimate for services are a required part of the grant application.
Property owner approval or proof of right to manage the land is required.