Introduction

This White Paper introduces the Ethos™ Regenerative Outcome Verification (ROV), the first iteration of the socio-ecological outcome verification system for regenerative agriculture that Terra Genesis™ released publicly in 2023.

Terra Genesis™ is an international design firm committed to transforming extractive global resource supply chains into regenerative supply systems. Our aim is to actualize the potential of a world where all products and services in the marketplace are contributing to the regeneration of life on Earth. Terra Genesis™ builds on nearly a decade of work as a pioneer in the fields of regenerative agriculture and regenerative business.

The Ethos™ program–like the living systems it is a part of–is constantly evolving and developing in response to the places, communities and stakeholders it works with. Some aspects of its architecture will likely change in the future as we are informed by the systems we are working in.

The theory of change and the principles behind the Ethos™ program, however, is something we are clear on. At Terra Genesis™ we recognize that the sourcing of raw materials and ingredients to produce goods in the modern world tends to operate in harmful, extractive, and exploitative ways. The long and overly complex supply chains that have characterized economic globalization make it impossible for people to see and evaluate the impact of a given product in the place where it was produced, or where its raw materials and ingredients are sourced from. As a result, inequitable and extractive sourcing practices and patterns have become normalized. Our intention is for Ethos™ to introduce radical transparency and traceability into supply systems. It achieves this by providing a comprehensive platform where a holistic range of ecological and social outcomes are monitored and verified by smallholder farmers, the companies who produce needed goods, and the end consumers who use them.

<aside> ℹ️ Terms and definitions in the White Paper may be explored in detail here.

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What is Regenerative Outcome Verification?

Ethos™ Regenerative Outcome Verification (ROV) is an outcome-driven socio-ecological monitoring and verification tool that is part of the Terra Genesis™ regenerative sourcing platform.

Ethos™ monitors and tracks farm-level impacts while generating farmer-owned data assets. It enables farmers to monitor and report on the impacts of their production systems, offer verified products to buyers, and receive revenue from data assets. It enables brands to monitor and report on the impacts of their sourcing, source ingredients verified as regeneratively grown, make credible product claims, and communicate regenerative sourcing stories to consumers. It does this in a way that is relational, place-sourced, and holds brands and farmers as equal stakeholders in order to promote equity and regeneration within sourcing relationships.