CL6-2026-FARM2FORK-02-two-stage | Organic farming income diversification — ecosystem services R&D

Greenback is developing a platform that would create a verified additional income stream for organic farmers by measuring and monetising biodiversity, soil health, freshwater quality, and carbon outcomes from existing farming operations. The core research challenge we are working to resolve is how to design a measurement and verification protocol that is scientifically credible, practically affordable at farm scale, and compatible with existing organic certification audit infrastructure — so that ecosystem services participation does not create additional compliance burden for producers already operating under demanding management standards.

Market validation is in place: we hold a signed letter of intent from an anchor offtaker — a leading certified organic food company operating across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia — confirming commercial intent to purchase verified credits once the methodology is validated. This confirms that solving the research problem creates direct, near-term commercial value for organic farmers in our network.

We are in pre-pilot phase with methodology design complete at a conceptual level, a verification partner engaged, and an organic certification farmer network identified as our entry channel. We are seeking consortium partners with expertise in organic farming systems, farmer economics, or ecosystem services incentive design, where co-developing and field-testing this methodology in a Pacific Rim context would complement European research on organic sector competitiveness and income resilience. New Zealand's Organic Products and Production Act 2023 provides a distinct and instructive regulatory environment for examining how mandatory organic standards interact with voluntary ecosystem services markets.