By Lilah Kalfus, MBA ’25
This article was written in response to a seminar given by Chris Brown, Senior Director, Product, Indigo Ag, in an EDGE Seminar at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in Spring 2024. This article voices one student’s perspective and does not necessarily represent the views of either Duke University or the seminar speaker.
In truth, I don’t know much about regenerative agriculture and I’ve joined the EDGE Seminar to stretch my thinking and expand my knowledge in the areas of climate and sustainability. When Chris Brown, Senior Director of Product at Indigo Ag, spoke to us about the various digital and biological products that Indigo has, like carbon credits and microbial seed coatings, it was my first time hearing many of these terms. In the Seminar, we talked about various stakeholders involved in Indigo’s work, primarily farmers that they support by teaching them regenerative carbon farming practices. Chris mentioned there’s a large barrier to adoption for farmers because these practices require more work and time on their part. Although the average profit increases from carbon farming, many farmers don’t bite. When discussing stakeholders that Indigo engages, it felt like one group was largely left out of the discussion: Indigenous Americans.
This semester, I also attended the ClimateCAP Summit, where I first began to think about the role of Indigenous tribes in climate work. ClimateCAP is a summit on climate, capital, and business that brings together MBA students, business leaders, and experts from around the world to assess the implications of climate change for business and investment. One of the plenary sessions was a panel discussion called “Recentering Equity in the Climate Transition” that featured Fawn Sharp, Vice President of the Quinault Tribe. Among Vice Presidents of Fortune 500 companies on that panel alongside her, Fawn seemed to give the most thought-provoking—and practical—insight into how Indigenous knowledge and lands are key elements in a global climate change strategy. Therefore, when Chris came to speak about regenerative agriculture, a practice I learned stems from Indigenous Peoples, I noticed that he (and likely many of others in the regenerative ag industry) didn’t bring Indigenous Peoples into the conversation.
I’ve started to do some of my own research into why it seems vital not to overlook the support of Indigenous Peoples in the global effort to combat climate change and transition to a low-carbon future. First, Indigenous Peoples possess a wealth of environmental knowledge, which can be critical in effectively adapting to climate change. While there’s a relatively new craze around regenerative agriculture, the practices are far from new. For hundreds of years, Indigenous Americans have used farming systems like intercropping to grow crops that complement one another while minimally competing for resources. Furthermore, Native Americans invented permaculture where they planted species that accumulated or “fixed” nitrogen and other vital nutrients to the soil. Perhaps, if more companies like Indigo forged meaningful partnerships with indigenous tribes, they could benefit from the local skill and knowledge to co-create new biological products together.
Second—and maybe this goes without saying—it’s important for Indigenous Peoples to be involved in making decisions on issues that affect them and to be consulted about how their knowledge is used. In my research, I’ve found that not only do companies not invite Indigenous voices to the table when talking about climate and sustainability strategies, but some of these strategies actually end up negatively affecting Indigenous populations. They suffer serious human rights abuses due to things like the implementation of climate change mitigation and renewable energy projects that affect their land. Given the fact that indigenous peoples effectively manage around 25 percent of the Earth’s land surface that holds 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity, it seems to me that more can be done to bring indigenous voices to have a seat at the table in corporate boardrooms.
So how can Corporate America “decolonize” the board room? I’ve found a few suggestions through my research. First, creating an action plan highlighting the concrete steps the company will take to support Indigenous communities into the future seems like a good place to start. The plan should include a resource assessment outlining the money, time, and other resources the company can provide to support Indigenous nations. Perhaps companies can integrate their impact on Indigenous lands into their annual impact or CSR reports, making it a measure that’s quantified. A company could even invite Indigenous peoples to regularly speak at board meetings to provide insight on business decisions. The combination of opening the door to Indigenous voices in boardrooms and building trust by being genuine in conversations and showing support, I think, will go a long way.
I myself still have a lot to learn about regenerative agriculture, climate and sustainability issues in general, and the role businesses play in mitigating climate impact. From what I’ve learned so far, actively including Indigenous Peoples in the discussion and in boardrooms seems vital for our future.
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