(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- This World Soil Day, Varda AG and Yara International ASA announce the formal transition of Varda AG into the Varda Foundation, a new non-profit organisation dedicated to improving transparency, collaboration, and data accessibility across global agri-food systems. The new independent Foundation is headquartered in Rome, Italy.

This evolution underscores Varda's long-standing commitment to strengthening digital public goods that support soil health, sustainable farming, and resilient supply chains. All assets and intellectual property previously held by Varda AG, including its flagship services Global FieldID^® and SoilHive^®, have been transferred by Yara International to the new Foundation. These platforms, designed respectively to enable a shared system for field identification and to improve access to soil data, will now be stewarded under a mission-driven, neutral governance model that serves farmers, researchers, NGOs, and the wider agricultural community.

Leadership and governance

The Foundation is led by Dr. Simone Sala, who steps into the role of Executive Director, supported by a multidisciplinary team with backgrounds in agriculture, soil science, software engineering, and data management.

Dr. Sala commented:“Launching the Varda Foundation on World Soil Day is a meaningful milestone. As an open, non-profit institution, we can collaborate more effectively with partners worldwide to advance neutral digital infrastructures for agriculture. We thank Yara for its visionary investment and commitment to enabling vital digital building blocks to achieve this, as well as supporting the transition to an independent foundation. Moving ahead, our priority is to ensure that SoilHive and Global FieldID continue to evolve as trusted, accessible solutions that support farmers, researchers, and public institutions in delivering nature-positive outcomes and broader societal benefit.”

The Varda Foundation benefits from the strategic oversight of a diverse and highly experienced Board of Directors. Mr. Arne Cartridge (WBCSD), Mr. Ruan Boezaart (Yara), Dr. Leigh Winowiecki (CIFOR-ICRAF), Dr. Andrea Porro (World Farmers Organisation), Dr. Giulia Stellari (Fall Line Capital) and Prof. Catherine Nakalembe (University of Maryland; joining in 2026) all bring deep expertise spanning sustainable agriculture, soil science, digital innovation, farmer representation, and geospatial analytics.

A transition with purpose

This transformation is the result of extensive dialogue with partners and users who recognise that a non-profit structure is best suited to unlock the full potential of Varda's services. The new model is built around:

- Open, neutral, and transparent governance
- Stewardship of Global FieldID and SoilHive as digital common-good assets
- A sponsorship-based approach to ensure long-term financial sustainability

By aligning with a mission-driven governance framework, the Foundation is positioned to further contribute to global efforts promoting soil regeneration, environmental accountability, and the interoperability of agricultural data systems.

A community of strong partners

Varda's progress to date has been made possible thanks to the commitment of numerous organisations across the agri-food, development, and technology sectors. Key supporters include CIFOR-ICRAF, Digifarm, The Landbanking Group, Radiant Earth Foundation, Syngenta, Swiss Re, Unilever, WBCSD, the World Farmers' Organisation, and others who share the vision of greater transparency and collaboration in agriculture.

Above all, Varda's transformation has been enabled through the long-term support of Yara International, in close collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their shared commitment to advancing a nature-positive, transparent food future has been instrumental in shaping Varda's journey, from concept to foundation. Moving forward, the new Foundation will operate independently of Yara, ensuring that its activities and governance are guided by its non-profit, mission-driven framework and commitment to neutrality.

ENDS

About Varda

The Varda Foundation accelerates collaboration across the agriculture industry to build a nature-positive food system. By improving how data is discovered and shared, we help farmers, businesses and policymakers make better decisions for people and the planet.

The company's vision is to make farm and field data a key ingredient for resilient food systems, allowing industry stakeholders to collaborate more effectively and broadening the adoption of regenerative farming practices.

Through the widespread use of SoilHive and Global FieldID, our goal is to bring together forward-looking companies, farmers and other industry institutions that share our aspiration for a more sustainable, resilient, and transparent food ecosystem.

For inquiries or partnership opportunities, please contact Simone Sala at....

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