Regenerative agriculture
Working from the ground for a more resilient food system
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Working from the ground for a more resilient food system
How our food gets to our tables matters. There may not be enough soil left to feed the world within 60 years due to unsustainable agricultural practices.
Land degradation has affected a quarter of the world's land surface. Millions of hectares of forests, which play a key role in providing food, regulating water cycles and maintaining biodiversity, have been affected by the relentless process of urbanisation and the expansion of the agricultural frontier.
Industrial and conventional agriculture, monoculture and other unsustainable productive models threaten around 1 million animal and plant species with extinction. The unsustainable use of land and of natural resources undermines our ability to adapt to climate change.
Now, more than ever, is time to produce our food in a way that does not exceed the environmental boundaries of our planet, and do not harm biodiversity, ecosystems or the climate. At the same time, we must ensure the resilience of farmers, allowing them to withstand crises, shocks and disruptions.
Rikolto works with farmer organisations (cooperatives, associations or farmer groups) to enhance their resilience so that they can continue producing enough, even after a climate shock, to earn a decent living from agriculture, and to make their farms a positive force for the future of the planet.
To achieve this, we accompany farmers towards the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices.
Soil is very often underrated, but it provides us with everything we eat. Healthy soil means healthy seeds and nutritious crops, which means healthy plants and, eventually, healthy food.
Through a specific set of practices, regenerative agriculture aims to restore degraded soil, keep it healthy, foster biodiversity and recreate an ecosystem where soil microorganisms such as fungi, insects, bacteria and microbes can store carbon, turn waste into nutrients and retain water efficiently.
Conserving biodiversity on which food systems depend and protecting the natural ecosystems that harbour biodiversity is a high priority for us at Rikolto. Our global strategy focuses on three pillars: sustainable production, market inclusion and an enabling environment. Regenerative agriculture practices are integrated within each of these three pillars.
In the first pillar - sustainable production - we work with farmers' organisations to enhance their professionalism and governance through continuous improvement. We also provide advice and training on the application, adaptation and adoption of regenerative farming practices, including agroforestry systems and diversification. Our holistic approach ensures that these practices benefit people, communities, and the planet by building farmers' resilience.
Under the pillar of inclusive markets, we improve farmer organisations' access to local, national and international markets by building business relationships with a long-term outlook, fulfilling the needs of farmers and buyers alike. For both farmers and buyers, we help build the business case of implementing regenerative agricultural practices. In the meantime, we aim contributing to safer and sustainably produced food reaching more citizens in cities and rural areas.
Finally, the third pillar is the enhancement of an enabling environment. We do this by co-creating and replicating regenerative agricultural solutions through facilitating multi-stakeholder participation, proposing policies and strategies, improving access to finance (credit), and partnering with local governments, research institutions, universities, citizens and private companies.
“Healthy farming is the cornerstone of a sustainable food system. Everyone who has a stake in food must take responsibility. Fair prices and long-term partnerships with farmers will be crucial. So will fair compensation for the benefits farmers bring to natural ecosystems. For Rikolto, this means that enabling inclusive business is more important than ever.” – Chris Claes, Executive Director of Rikolto International
In our new programme cycle, we identified 10 principles to guide our interventions and for a better understanding of the different forms that regenerative agriculture can take:
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Complying with the stringent requirements of organic rice buyers is necessary to be an Internal Control System Champion and to ensure that sustainable production practices are applied. Rikolto has supported around 2,500 farmers, of which over 600 are certified organic farmers in two farmers' cooperatives (APOB and APPOLI). Today, their business goes beyond the processing and collective marketing of quality organic rice. They also deliver services to improve the capacity of farmers through training in organic farming and SRP Standard and entrepreneurship for young people.
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We also have worked with the Indonesian government, the Barokah coffee cooperative and Sucafina to develop a Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) business model to restore the rainforest. PES is a cost-effective way to compensate indigenous communities, landowners and farmers for maintaining the environment and providing ecosystem services.
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There is a very concrete example from Rikolto’s partner Pasar Rakyat. There, regenerative agricultural practices are an integral part of their work: training is offered to farmers to teach them how to create organic fertilisers in rice fields using natural resources from their surroundings – an alternative to costly fertilisers and pesticides. In 2022, we introduced the principles of regenerative agriculture and participatory guarantee systems to 363 farmers in Solo, Denpasar, Depok and Bandug. About 67 hectares of land were converted to a regenerative agriculture model.
Rikolto is part of a diverse working group of NGOs, research institutes, and governments that promote the wide-scale use of sustainable rice standards (SRP)for rice production. More than 800 farmers covering around 2,600 ha have followed the SRP recommendations. For instance, 23,316 tons of CO2 were saved by stopping the practice of burning straw and stubble. We also experimented with an integrated rice-fish farming system, which benefited farmers in terms of new business opportunities and diversified income.
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Besides, thanks to the implementation of a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) for safe vegetables – a traceable production and quality assurance system promoted by Rikolto and Hanoi’s Plant Protection and Production Department – around 3,200 households (of which 65% are women) are cultivating more than 1,900 hectares according to safe vegetable production techniques, accounting for 14% of Hanoi's vegetable production area. It is estimated that the PGS accounts for 140,000 tons of vegetables annually, and almost 2 million consumers in Hanoi now have access to these safe vegetables.
