At Enviu, we build ventures that tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges. Across our four domains including Textiles, Zero Waste, Mobility, and Agrifood, we apply a systems-thinking, yet hands-on approach to spark systemic change.
Over the years, we’ve learned to connect the dots between these domains and the different regions we work in across the globe, applying lessons from one context to another to drive greater impact. And one such example is the Agrifood sector.
In East Africa, our Enviu Agrifood program has been supporting regenerative agriculture, reducing post-harvest loss, and strengthening the position of smallholder farmers for well over seven years. Now, we’re exploring how to scale that impact by linking the program to the Dutch and broader EU market.
Why the Netherlands? As a global leader in Agrifood, the Dutch sector offers valuable opportunities, but also reveals deep-rooted challenges such as biodiversity loss, massive emissions, and the growing pressure on farmers. So we asked ourselves:
“What would it take to transform one of the world’s most efficient food systems into one that’s truly sustainable and inclusive?”
Turning our lens to the Netherlands
To answer that question, we kicked off a deep-dive exploration into the Dutch Agrifood landscape. Our goal? To understand how the system works, where it fails, and where business interventions can make the biggest impact.
To dig deeper, we turned to the approach that guides all our work: the Enviu Venture Playbook – a methodology that combines systems thinking, human-centered design, and a lean, entrepreneurial mindset. It helps us uncover where real change is needed and how ventures can drive it.
So with our playbook in hand, here is what we discovered…
Is an efficient system always a good thing?
The Dutch Agrifood sector is widely praised for its efficiency and global leadership. But with maturity often comes rigidity.
Through initial research, we gathered existing knowledge to map out how this highly developed system functions and where it’s falling short.
The verdict? Yes, it’s an efficient system. But that efficiency comes at a cost:
- Agriculture accounts for 17% of the Netherlands’ emissions
- Land use is in the Netherlands is eroding biodiversity (just 15% of Mean Species Abundance remains!)
- Imported soy feed is linked to global deforestation
- Farmers are underpaid which forces them to either intensify or exit the sector
- Up to 9% of national emissions come from wasted food
These figures paint a clear picture: while the Dutch Agrifood system is globally recognized for its productivity and innovation, that success comes at a high price. The pressure on farmers, the environment, and society is mounting; a tension increasingly visible in today’s political debates. Of course, identifying these symptoms is just the beginning.
Narrowing it down to three questions
After an initial exploration sprint, we framed our research around three core questions:
1. Where does the Dutch Agrifood sector stand today?
2. Which systemic failures are driving harm and standing in the way of change?
3. Where across the value chain are interventions needed to repair the system and accelerate the shift to a sustainable and inclusive future?
This analysis led us to identify four key system failures. Here Enviu is well-positioned to intervene and leverage our strengths to influence the system and drive transformation through venture building.
From failure to opportunity
With all the accumulated knowledge and system failures in mind, we brought our team together for a two-day brainstorm (on a farm, no less). We asked bold questions, used systems thinking trigger cards to challenge assumptions, and some “what if” questions to encourage out-of-the-box thinking.
Many post-its later, we were able to distill our thinking into three chain-level intervention directions that we’ll further refine and validate to help repair the system and accelerate the shift to a sustainable and inclusive future.
Here’s a snapshot of the directions we worked through during the day:
- Creating markets for regenerative products to scale their impact – Markets for regenerative products need to grow, as well as become more stable and easier to access. We believe that only then, more farmers will shift to regenerative practices with confidence.
- Prioritizing regenerative imports to improve EU food systems and support smallholder farmers abroad – We can’t stop importing, but we can choose what we import. By prioritizing regeneratively grown products, we support smallholder farmers abroad to transition to regenerative practices, while offering healthier and more sustainable food to EU consumers.
- Restoring the link between people and the environment – People have lost touch with where their food comes from and what impact their choices have. By making this visible again, we can raise awareness around consumption and food waste, and spark the behavior and system change we need.
So what’s up next?
With these insights in hand, our next step is to begin validating our venture ideas – from creating test cards for critical assumptions and running experiments with key value chain actors, to visiting more farms and building new collaborations.
Let’s connect, share insights and spark change!
Do these system failures or opportunity areas sound familiar? Are you working on transforming the Dutch Agrifood system? Or are you perhaps curious about how venture building can help?
We’d love to hear from you!
Feel free to reach out to Nynke Bootsma, Venture Builder at Enviu:
