Turning Waste into Energy: Danone, Sistema.bio to equip 6,500 dairy farmers with biodigesters

MOROCCO – France-based Danone and Sistema.bio have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to equip 6,500 smallholder dairy farmers with biodigesters by 2030, supporting methane reduction on-farm.

The agreement, announced at the 17th edition of the International Agricultural Exhibition (SIAM) in Morocco, aims to reduce methane emissions, promote on-farm renewable energy generation, and support sustainable agriculture practices. The implementation has started in Mexico, Morocco, and India.

Olivier Verdelet, Global SVP of Agriculture & Sustainability, Danone, said, “Danone is committed to supporting smallholder dairy farmers to enhance their farm resilience. We see this partnership with Sistema.bio to implement biodigesters for driving manure transformation as a key enabler to achieving this goal, whilst improving local food sovereignty, environmental impact and economic return.”

This initiative will transform livestock waste into renewable biogas and organic fertiliser, which can be used as valuable resources at farm level by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, lowering production costs, and decreasing reliance on chemical fertilisers.

Additionally, the biodigester’s digestate can also be used as a natural organic fertiliser, which improves soil health and efficient water use, supporting agriculture to be more sustainable and resilient.

Currently, Danone collaborates directly with over 60,000 dairy farmers around the world, many of whom are smallholders managing fewer than 20 cows.

The company stated that methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after its release.

Dairy companies can play a meaningful role in reducing methane. This is because methane emissions from agriculture and livestock make up approximately 40% of global methane emissions, with dairy cattle representing an estimated 8% of these emissions.

In 2023, Danone was the first food company to align with the Global Methane Pledge to reduce 30% of methane emissions from fresh milk by 2030. Since 2020, it has achieved 25.3% methane reduction across our fresh milk supply. 

Sistema.bio empowers farmers through access to biodigester technology, training, and financing. Through this MoU, Sistema.bio and Danone aim to support smallholder farmers by introducing biodigesters, a proven manure management solution to mitigate methane emissions, while providing access to renewable energy on-farm.

Alexander Eaton, CEO and Co-Founder of Sistema.bio, said, “We are honoured to collaborate with Danone to adopt a new regenerative agriculture model for milk production. Thanks to Danone’s vision of a supply chain driven by clean energy and circular principles, we will help thousands of farmers in multiple geographies to turn organic waste into clean energy and natural fertiliser, boosting farm productivity while accelerating the transition to clean energy.”

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