Regenerating nature may be the most efficient public-health investment

The global economy is deeply intertwined with nature. The World Economic Forum estimates that some $44 trillion of economic value, roughly half of global GDP, is dependent on nature.

Yet, decades of extractive land use have left soils degraded and food systems increasingly disconnected from human health.

Nature restoration and regenerative farming offer a practical route to reverse this trend.

Regenerating food systems and restoring nature go beyond sustainability. They actively restore soil health, water cycles and biodiversity. Healthier soils improve productivity, reduce reliance on synthetic inputs and produce more nutrient-dense food, while also sequestering carbon.

For farmers, this translates into lower input costs and more resilient economics. For society, it creates a virtuous cycle linking environmental recovery, food quality and long-term health outcomes.

With more than 40 percent of the world’s landmass dedicated to agriculture, farmland represents the single largest lever available for ecological renewal. Even modest improvements in soil organic matter dramatically increase water retention and resilience to climate extremes. Pelican Ag focuses on the technologies that repair this soil-to-gut value chain, recognizing that soil health, food quality and human health are fundamentally connected.

Health economics

The implications extend beyond climate. Governments worldwide spend disproportionately on treating chronic illnesses linked to poor diets. Globally, the economic cost of obesity alone is predicted to reach $3 trillion annually by 2030, while in the UK, diet-related ill-health is estimated to cost £268 billion ($362.2 billion, €309 billion) a year, exceeding total annual NHS spending.

Improving nutrient density and reducing reliance on synthetic chemicals in food systems offers a pathway to lower public health expenditure. This alignment of environmental and health outcomes creates a powerful narrative for policymakers and industry stakeholders, easing long-term public health burdens and aligning environmental outcomes with fiscal realities.

Policy momentum is beginning to reflect this logic. In the US, a new $700 million regenerative agriculture pilot program is targeting soil health, water quality and long-term productivity. In the UK, Sustainable Farming Incentives, Biodiversity Net Gain and carbon codes for woodland and peatland are creating new economic frameworks for nature restoration, supported by a broader overhaul of agricultural policy across Europe.

Consumer behavior is also shifting. Enthusiasm for highly engineered food alternatives has cooled as questions around nutrition and market fit persist. In contrast, demand for nature-based, health-oriented food systems is strengthening, creating durable tailwinds for regenerative models.

Corporates are responding. Nestlé has committed £1 billion to regenerative sourcing, Walmart aims to restore 50 million acres of land by 2030 and UK brands, such as Yeo Valley Organic and Wildfarmed, are embedding regeneration at the core of their business models.

Technology is the critical enabler. Advances in soil analytics, nutritional measurement, biological inputs and natural-capital platforms are bringing data, transparency and scalability to what was previously an analogue sector.

Capital must flow

Our investments are supporting the development of digital tools that allow farmers to monitor soil microbiomes, measure nutrient density in food and replace chemical inputs with biological alternatives. This digitization unlocks opportunities across agriculture, food and health, often in new sectors, with defensible IP and recurring revenue models, in high return markets.

Capital now needs to follow. While venture funding has flowed into ag-tech, scaling regenerative food systems requires broader participation. Fragmented assets must be aggregated, operations professionalized and efficiencies driven across the value chain. We see a deep pipeline of investable opportunities, with billions of dollars of growth capital required to meet demand.

Looking ahead to 2026, we hope to see a growing awareness of the positive impact of regenerative agriculture and a true multi-decade investment theme: global in scope, technology-led and directly tied to climate resilience, food security and human health.

We both have first-hand experience of how health and nutrition are closely intertwined and we aim to influence a growing understanding of the need to regenerate our planet by producing affordable and nutritious food. The technologies already exist, valuations remain early-stage and the institutional shift is underway. The question is no longer whether this transition will happen, but how quickly capital will mobilize – and who will lead it.

Simon Evill and Christopher Ramsay are the founders of British VC firm Pelican Ag.