Regenerative Agriculture – mentoring farmers for the benefit of all

Regenerative agriculture has many definitions. At EIT Food, we understand it as a system of farming principles and practices, including:

• minimising tillage and keeping the soil covered,
• applying holistic management to increase the yields and regenerate the soil and the biodiversity,
• rotating crops and integrating livestock to combine plants and animals in a single ecosystem,
• improving water retention and distribution through hydrological designs,

• strengthening the resilience of the agri-food system by supporting farmers, their families, and areas.

For more information on regenerative farming click here.

With the mission to make food in Europe healthier and more sustainable, EIT Food aims to help scale up regenerative practices in agriculture and present their benefits for the environment and public health. Therefore, our network develops and brings together different actors in the food supply chain to make teaching scalable and accessible for all.

To fulfil this mission, EIT Food has launched its programme to educate farmers across Europe about how they use sustainable farming practices.

To best respond to regional challenges, we have two regional teams at EIT Food working on the project in two regions: South Europe (Italy, Portugal, Israel, Turkey, Greece and Spain) and Central-Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia).

In each country involved in our regenerative agriculture project the conditions, requirements, and challenges might differ slightly. That is why we have selected and collaborated with experts and agricultural advisors knowing the field. Together we organise trainings, lead advisory programmes and are available for any consultancy regarding transitioning into regenerative farming.

Farmers learn how to transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture, improve soil health, foster biodiversity, produce more nutritious crops, and eventually make their farms more competitive in the long run. We offer tools and curricula, which we constantly improve so that the farmer programme can continue to scale up into the future:

• 1-2-day training sessions run by experienced regenerative experts
• 3-years advisory programme mentored by experienced regenerative practitioners
• the Regenerative Agriculture Manuals – specific guidebooks to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture

If you are a farmer and want to get involved, please click on the "I am a farmer" section on the top right of this page for information on our training courses.

Agri-food industry is essential in implementing and supporting farmers to introduce regenerative agriculture practices and understand its long-term benefits for their farms and the whole food supply chain.

EIT Food is working closely with agri-food businesses to train farmers and design procurement strategies that encourage adopting regenerative farming practices. We are determined to build a European community around regenerative agriculture and link stakeholders like scientific and innovative ideas of the start-up community with farmers and corporates.

EIT Food believes a successful transition to regenerative agriculture depends on all stakeholders of the food supply network. We organize space where you can gain more knowledge about regenerative agriculture, share your experience with others, and successfully scale your farm and business towards a sustainable venture.

If your company is interested in transitioning to regenerative agriculture, please contact us.

At EIT Food, we aim to reach European consumers to help them understand and appreciate what regenerative farmers are doing and how it benefits the environment and our health. We run online training course to help society learn about the principles of regenerative agriculture. We explain the connection between healthy soils, plants, people, and the planet. Through powerful storytelling of farmers, we create compelling videos, interviews with farmers from our three-year advisory.

For more information on regenerative farming, discover our section dedicated for consumers.