Regenerative Agriculture: A pathway to productive, sustainable, and resilient farming systems

Regenerative Agriculture: A pathway to productive, sustainable, and resilient farming systems

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  Ermias Betemariam (b.ermias@cifor-icraf.org) DamarisMboi Tesfaye Woldeyohanes 08 April 2026 Regenerative Agriculture: A pathway to productive, sustainable, and resilient farming systems
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  ‘the polycrisis’
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  Drought affecting socio- ecologicalsystems What? System boundary: • Socio-ecological system People & Nature Social Ecological Land Biodiversity Cimate Water Yield, income, human well being … Unsutainable socio- ecological system T1 Baseline Livable Landscapes Sustainable, productive & resilient, equitable socio- ecological system T2 Key levers • Policy and governance: • Multi-stakeholder engagement • Capacity for change • Innovation & learning • Financial leverage Transofmation is deep, systemic and sustainable change with lareg-scale impact Drought Conflict
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  4 1. Background Major evidencepackage for system-level influence at farm and landscape scales Can integrated regenerative agriculture help close the soil, water, management, and service-delivery gaps that continue to limit productivity?
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  2. The studyarea The study covers contrasting agroecological zones and farming contexts in eastern Kenya, allowing us to test whether regenerative agriculture performs across different conditions
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  Integrated practice bundles,not single technologies, are what drive stronger yield and resilience gains Maize Sorghum 3. AGRONOMIC GAIN Maize grain: 1.4 → 2.7 t/ha (+93%) Sorghum grain : 1.3 → 1.4 t/ha (+8%) Control Vs Microdosing + Manure + Mulching
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  Yield stability gain:farmers perception 3. AGRONOMIC GAIN
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  3. AGRONOMIC GAIN:Nutrient density Maize Sorghum Maize and Sorghum grain nutrient profiles under RA and FP are broadly similar Regenerative agriculture improves productivity without compromising grain nutrient quality
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  Hydraulic properties Chemical &physical properties Biological properties Our assessment treats soil health as a system, integrating biological, chemical, and physical properties, along with erosion risk, rather than relying on a single indicator. 4.SOIL HEALTH Soil health is the platform through which productivity, resilience, and long- term sustainability are built.
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  4. Soil health:Soil biology RA is beginning to shift biological processes in the soil, which is important because healthy soils depend on living systems, not only chemistry. Nematodes
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  Nematodes and AMF Relationshipsbetween AMF spore counts (per kg of soil) and environmental gradients Relationships between nematode counts per 50g of soil and three environmental gradients Biological gains are real, but they are context- specific, and strongest in cooler, wetter, higher- elevation environments 4. Soil health: Soil biology
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  Infiltration Improving infiltration isone of the most practical ways regenerative agriculture strengthens drought resilience while also supporting productivity Mulching increased infiltration rate by about 80% 4. Soil health: Soil physics
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  Treatment effects increasealong elevational/moisture gradient RA is not a quick fix: slow but steady chemical recovery, but larger gains will require time, continuity, and context-specific targeting 4. Soil health: Soil chemistry
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  What is inthe manure? Macro (A) & micro (B) nutrients in Manure Comparative nutrient supply (A) and mineralization (B) from manure and microdose Manure quality varies widely, so smarter nutrient management matters as much as input use itself. It is not simply about using more inputs, it is about combining and targeting inputs more intelligently 4. Soil health: Soil chemistry
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  RA could reducesoil erosion and nutrient losses by up to 05% from arable lands Protecting nutrients, productivity, and long-term land health Soil and nutrient erosion 4. Soil health: Soil erosion
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  5. POLICY AND CAPACITY Agroforestryis widely mentioned in RA related policies and strategies
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  5. Policy coherenceThe policy-practice barriers: limited funding, sectoral silos, weak coordination, and short- term incentives. The challenge is no longer only what works agronomically, but how to overcome the institutional barriers that prevent scaling
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  The VBA modelis critical for learning, adaptation, and wider uptake 5. The VBA model
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  VBAs significantly accelerateadoption of regenerative agriculture, especially for knowledge-intensive, lower-capital practices, while also generating spillover effects beyond direct participants. 5. The VBA model VBA performance
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  The agroforesry interventionsled to increase in • tree density from 69 to 110 tree per farm & • species richness from 3.5 to 7.3 after RA • Fruit trees – nutrition security and income RA is delivering wider system benefits, including more trees, greater species richness, stronger nutrition potential, and added carbon benefits. 6.TREE DIVERSITY
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  6. Tree diversity RAcontributed to Tree species diversity, density, and climate change mitigation The true value of regenerative agriculture lies in combined gains across productivity, soil health, biodiversity, climate resilience, and livelihoods.
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  Lessons learned 7. MonitoringRA peformance Field Lab: Soil Spectroscopy enables landscape-scale assessments Space Careful georeferncin g of farms is ciritical! TharakaNithi Local knowledge matters
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  Healthy soils Healthycrops Healthy livestock Healthy people Thanks you Ermias Betemariam (e.betemariam@cgiar.org) Leigh Winowiecki (L.A.WINOWIECKI@CGIAR.ORG) Tor-Gunnar Vagen (T.VAGEN@CGIAR.ORG) Ermias Betemariam (b.Ermias@cifor-icraf.org)