Think like a Landscape: Q&A with Simon Hohmann

Why this series
Business faces rising climate, nature and supply-chain exposure. Could place-based collaboration - by river basin or bioregion - lower risk, strengthen compliance and build resilient supply?

What this interview covers

Remei has worked with smallholder cotton systems for decades, building long-term partnerships and market access in India and Tanzania.

Over time, this has evolved into a broader understanding: that sustainable production depends on the health of the wider system, the multifunctionality of landscapes, and recognising people as part of nature - not separate from it.

In this conversation, Simon Hohmann, Co-CEO of Remei AG, reflects on what it means in practice to “think like a landscape” from his perspective and why the future of business depends on it.

Q: Remei has worked in organic cotton for decades. What has changed most in how you think about sustainability?

Simon: In the early days, the focus was on organic cotton itself - ensuring quality, securing supply of the raw material we require for Remei’s B2B production of ready-made textiles and building stable markets by collaboration with international textile brands and retailers.

We always knew that even with a well-functioning value chain it was not enough to change the wider conditions for smallholders. You cannot build a sustainable system by focusing on one crop alone. Farmers don’t operate in single-crop systems, and neither should we.

We began to understand that sustainability requires a broader view - one that includes: other crops, soil health, water availability, and the health and wellbeing of farmers, their families and the wider community.

The bioRe Foundation has been our partner on the ground, supporting healthcare, education, drinking water, and innovation on the farm, including biogas and botanical solutions for organic agriculture.

More recently, with climate change and the need to adapt and diversify even further, we’ve been thinking about an even more holistic, landscape-based way of working. This has involved evolving our organic systems towards regenerative organic agriculture and engaging with the Gerana Initiative.

Q: What does “thinking like a landscape” mean to you in practice?

Simon: At its simplest, it means moving from a single-point focus to a holistic perspective.

It means recognising that farming systems are interconnected, environmental and economic outcomes are linked, and no single activity can be optimised in isolation.

In practice, this means looking beyond cotton to diversified cropping systems, considering the role of water, soil and climate, and working with the full set of actors that shape outcomes in that landscape, and drawing on our long experience in building reliable supply chains from the farm level upward.

A landscape approach is about understanding the system as a whole and not just improving one part of it.

In Tanzania, this way of working is already being advanced through the Kijani Hai (Regenerative Production Landscape Collaborative) initiated by GIZ, Helvetas and funded by Laudes Foundation. The RPLC brings together farmers, communities and local organisations around regenerative agriculture and land restoration. Remei Tanzania is one of the producers involved in this wider stakeholder coordination effort.

Our role as an anchor company within the Gerana Initiative is to help connect these efforts more fully to companies, markets, finance and cross-sector collaboration - supporting stronger coordination, investment and shared learning across the wider system.

Q: Why is diversification so important within this approach?

Simon: Because cotton alone cannot create long-term resilience for farmers.

Remei is a trading company for traceable organic cotton textiles, we advance a fibre-to-fashion supply chain and enable B2B brands to prove origin, ensure transparency and deliver a measurable impact.

But organic farmers grow multiple crops as part of their soil fertility management, and they need reliable markets for those crops as well. Without that, incomes remain fragile, even if cotton performs well.

What we are seeing through our organic production systems is that diversified cropping improves soil health, reduces risk for farmers, and creates additional income streams.

In Tanzania, we are now working with crops like sesame, sorghum and sunflower alongside cotton. As soil health improves and systems evolve, new opportunities are emerging for diversified production and market development.

Q: How does this connect to supply chain resilience?

Simon: A resilient supply chain cannot be built through transactions alone. It requires long-term relationships and a shared commitment across all actors.

We often say:
“It needs a collective approach to run a resilient supply chain.”

That means working closely with farmers and communities, building stable partnerships across processing and manufacturing, and increasingly, bringing brands and buyers into the process as active participants.
Today, many of the most important actors, particularly at the demand end of the value chain, are still not fully engaged in landscape-level work. That is one of the biggest gaps we see.
Different supply chains may operate separately, but they often depend on the same landscapes, water systems and communities.

Q: What roles do soil, water and ecology beyond the farm play in this system?

Simon: They are foundational.

You cannot separate production of raw materials from the condition of the wider landscape including the health and availability of water, the condition of the soil, habitat condition and connectivity – all these things determine what is possible - both now and in the future as climate change adds additional layers of uncertainty.

In Tanzania, for example, improvements in land management have made it possible to retain water more effectively, stabilise yields, and support additional crops.

This shows that investing in the landscape itself creates the conditions for stronger production systems and more resilient livelihoods across the supply chain, including raw material production at the very start.
We now want to make sure this work also contributes to carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery, and - very importantly - diversified skills and job opportunities for young people living in the landscape.

Q: What makes landscape collaboration work?

Simon: First, you need the right mix of stakeholders.

If only one company or one group is involved, the impact will always be limited. When multiple actors are engaged - farmers, local organisations, supply chain partners - the potential for meaningful change increases significantly.

Second, you need openness.

Successful approaches are not closed systems. They allow new partners to engage, understand the system, and find ways to contribute.

And third, you need a shared direction.

People don’t come together just to do business - they come together around a shared vision of what the system could become.

Q: Where are the biggest gaps today?

Simon: One of the biggest gaps is between intention and action.

Many companies understand the importance of sustainability and resilience. But there is still a disconnect between the story they want to tell and the way their operations actually work.

At the same time, decision-making within large organisations can be fragmented. Different departments operate with different priorities, which makes it difficult to engage in long-term, landscape-based approaches.

Another key gap is participation.

We still need more involvement from brands, buyers, and decision-makers in global markets.

These actors play a critical role in shaping demand and investment, but they are not yet fully part of the landscape system.

Q: What have you learned about how landscapes evolve over time?

Simon: Landscapes are constantly evolving - just like climate pressures, markets and the wider challenges we face. We need markets to evolve alongside the realities of landscape resilience and the solutions emerging on the ground.

You might solve one problem, only to encounter another. That is the reality of working with natural and social systems and the different pressures and trade-offs that emerge across supply chains.

This means that flexibility is essential, long-term commitment is critical, and strategies need to evolve over time.

Resilience comes from the ability to adapt - not from trying to fix a system in place.

Q: If you had one wish to improve how this system works, what would it be?

Simon: To move from short-term decision-making toward a more long-term and vision-driven approach.

There is often a tension between immediate financial performance and long-term system health.

I am faced with this every day in my job. But the two are not separate. Without healthy landscapes and happy communities, supply chains will not be viable in the long term.

We would also want to see stronger alignment between what companies say and what they do - bringing vision and operations closer together.

Q: What does resilience mean to you now?

Simon: Resilience means recognising that production, ecology and livelihoods are inseparable.

It means supporting farmers beyond a single crop, investing in the health of the wider landscape beyond the farm, and building skills, markets and ways of working that can adapt over time across the supply chain.

Ultimately, resilience is not something you achieve once. It is something you build continuously, together.