REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Every day, the agriculture sector produces ~24 million tons of food and provides livelihood to 2.5 billion people, serving as the largest source of income for poor and rural households. However, if current agriculture-caused land degradation continues, crop yields are expected to fall by 10% across the world, and up to 50% in certain regions by 2050.

To keep global warming below 2°C, stop biodiversity loss, redress inequalities in food access, malnutrition and hunger, and ensure there is enough quality soil to feed the world, the global agricultural sector will need to raise food production by 60-70% and simultaneously regenerate soil on more than 1.6 billion hectares of cultivated farmland.

Without fundamental reform, the current global food system will be unable to sufficiently improve soil health, ensure food and livelihood security, and adapt to and mitigate climate change. Rapidly scaling up the practice of regenerative agriculture is one key pathway for transforming the global food system. 

Regenerative agriculture aims to maintain vegetation cover throughout the year via crop rotation and perennial crops, reduce soil degradation, increase diversity of soil organic matter, maximize nutrient and water use efficiency by crops, integrate livestock management with improved grazing practices, and minimize dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.