Regenerative food systems

Rural communities should be at the centre of a renewed human-nature relationship: one that can support our societies while maintaining the consumption of resources within planetary boundaries. To achieve this goal, land managers and their networks of trust need to drive the diffusion of innovation for more sustainable food production. But how can systemic change occur in a sector notoriously considered traditionalist? Farms4Climate is a research and innovation project that tries to adapt and replicate transformative approaches that begin by providing inspiration. The idea is to lean into trending topics such as regenerative agriculture and carbon farming in order to help rural communities to identify new climate-friendly business opportunities tailored to local conditions and cropping systems. 

Soil health and carbon farming

Carbon farming can be defined as a green business model that rewards land managers for applying agroecological principles that lead to the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The recent increase in the price attainable for 1 ton of carbon dioxide removed is creating a unique opportunity to leverage on carbon farming to diffuse more sustainable farming practices. One of the objectives of the Farms4Climate project is to validate the environmental integrity of potential carbon farming projects / regenerative business models that are being proposed to occur in five different regions of the Mediterranean.

The project

The Farms4Climate consortium is composed of twelve organisations from five different countries (Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece and Italy), including research institutions as well as farmer associations and small private companies. The overall innovation process starts with farmers identifying an opportunity linked to a specific regenerative practice. Their environmental claims are then validated by agronomic experts within the team through a number of field trials and monitoring tools. Finally, digital developers will bring to life tailored solutions to certify the climate action undertaken by farmers, providing a means to access premium prices as a driver of rural transformation. The overall goal is to demonstrate that this process can be easily replicated and scaled to transform agrosystems across the globe. The project started in April 2022 and will last 3 years.

News

A selection of published material for holistic thinking and food system regeneration.

By subscribing to our monthly newsletter you will receive up-to-date and original information for scientists, stakeholders and the general public. Our communication will primarily focus on three areas: trends and business opportunities linked to voluntary carbon markets and climate smart agriculture; technical information on sustainable agronomic practices and project results; and the emergence of new business models based on holistic and regenerative approaches relevant to rural communities.