Farming News - Landmark new regenerative agriculture programme launched to support farmers
News
Landmark new regenerative agriculture programme launched to support farmers
Regenerating Together Programme marks a significant step towards credible, scalable regenerative agriculture
- SAI Platform has officially launched the Regenerating Together Programme (RTP) consisting of a revised framework with implementation guidance and transition support for the global food and beverage industry to enable the shift of value chains towards regenerative agriculture.
- The RTP is supported by over 40 leading food and agriculture businesses who recently signed a declaration of intent to scale regenerative agriculture, including Nestlé, Louis Dreyfus Company, McCain Foods and Diageo and supported by environmental organisations such as The Nature Conservancy and Earthworm Foundation.
- The RTP marks a shift from just defining regenerative agriculture to enabling its practical implementation at scale across global supply chains.
- For the first time, the framework includes guidance for independent third-party verification and benchmarking of regenerative agriculture practices, helping improve consistency, credibility and trust across the sector.
- The RTP is being unveiled at SAI Platform’s annual event in Saskatoon, Canada, as well as being livestreamed during London Climate Action Week in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
SAI Platform today officially launched its Regenerating Together Programme (RTP), marking a significant milestone in the implementation of regenerative agriculture. Launched at the organisation’s annual member event in Saskatoon, Canada and London Climate Action Week, the RTP supports the global food and agriculture industry beyond definitions and principles, providing a framework, practical guidance and implementation support to accelerate regenerative agriculture across global supply chains.
Developed with input from farmers, agronomists, NGOs, academia, and industry, the RTP is a voluntary programme that responds to a multitude of issues impacting global food systems from climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, water stress and increasing pressure on farmer livelihoods. The RTP is supported by over 40 leading food and agriculture businesses who recently signed a declaration of intent to scale regenerative agriculture, including Nestlé, Louis Dreyfus Company, McCain Foods and Diageo.
At the core of the RTP is the Regenerating Together framework which provides a practical four-step process based on supporting guidance for implementation across large and small-scale crop, beef and dairy production systems, and applicable in all geographies. Newly developed verification and benchmarking protocols now enable regenerative agriculture efforts to be independently verified, supporting greater consistency, credibility and transparency. By providing a common foundation for implementation and measurement, the RTP helps track progress towards positive environmental outcomes, while increasing visibility of the value farmers create through regenerative agriculture.
The RTP has been developed in line with wider industry efforts and requirements to advance regenerative agriculture and sustainable food systems. SAI Platform continues to collaborate with partners including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Regen10 and EIT Food to support greater consistency, interoperability and collaboration across the regenerative agriculture landscape. These partnerships reflect the multistakeholder approach and public-private partnerships that underpin the programme’s development. The programme also works with implementation partners including the Earthworm Foundation and the Nature Conservancy to support the practical application and farmer engagement on the ground.
The launch follows more than four years of cross-sectoral collaboration around a more practical and consistent approach to regenerative agriculture, including pilot initiatives across 23 production systems and 25 countries. Farmers have been central to this, ensuring the RTP is relevant and workable at a farm level. The RTP is designed to support farmers’ agency, enabling them to make their own decisions about what is most relevant to their operations, reduce administrative burden and increase visibility of the positive outcomes they are delivering.
Dionys Forster, Director General at SAI Platform, said: “Today represents a landmark moment for regenerative agriculture and is the result of years of collaboration across the sector. While significant progress has been made in understanding regenerative agriculture entails, the challenge now is implementation at scale. The Regenerating Together Programme offers a pragmatic solution to addressing this challenge by providing the industry with a practical and credible foundation to transition towards more resilient global supply chains.
“The level of collaboration behind the Regenerating Together Programme reflects a growing recognition that meaningful progress will only come through shared approaches and collective action. The focus now is harnessing this momentum, scaling the implementation of regenerative agriculture, and moving the transition forward. This will help to build more sustainable, resilient farming systems and protect the long-term future of global food supply chains.”