Kellogg Partners with Louisiana Rice Farmers on Climate Protection
During its first year, Kellogg’s project reduced rice farmers’ emissions by 1,600 metric tons, helping the industry do its part for climate protection.
A five-year partnership between Kellogg Company and Lower Mississippi River Basin rice farmers is showing signs of success. During its first year, the InGrained project enabled farmers to adopt climate-smart irrigation practices that led to a cutback of 1,600 metric tons of greenhouse gases – equal to deactivating 345 gasoline-powered cars for one year. The Louisiana River Basin is a major source of the rice consumed in domestically produced food products such as the cereals produced by Kellogs.
In collaboration with leading agriculture greenhouse gas measurement company Regrow Ag., Kellogg piloted this program to help growers measure their rice’s greenhouse gas emissions more accurately.
Rice is among the world’s most widely grown food crops, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI). Growing rice can produce methane, a greenhouse gas 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. But rice is a nutritious staple for more than half of the world’s population, meaning huge environmental gains can be realized by changing how farmers grow it. Rice methane emissions could grow substantially without intervention, contributing about 1.5 percent to global greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Kellogg Company, their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy aims to support 1 million farmers and reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions by 15 percent by 2030. Their ambitious goal will be achieved, in part, with programs like this, creating positive impacts on the environment and helping farmers grow rice used in some of our favourite foods.
Together with its partners, Kellogg continues to provide farmers with financial and technical support to transition to farming practices that benefit the environment and their communities. Additionally, Kellogg is considering extending the program to different regions with varying weather patterns, soil types, and agronomic conditions.
