Challenge. What solutions would encourage farmers, agribusiness and the food industry to adopt more effective regenerative agriculture practices?
The most promising solutions in Europe for addressing issues with human and climatic health, as well as farmers’ financial security, are provided by regenerative agriculture. Public knowledge of the advantages of purchasing regeneratively grown products would rise if the agrifood sector were encouraged to embrace more effective agricultural techniques.
Current agricultural methods are degrading healthy soils and biodiversity, and the agri-food sector is directly responsible for 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Unlike degraded soil, healthy organic topsoil holds CO2 and water and recycles nutrients. So, by working together with nature, we can grow more resilient crops, produce more valuable food, and use less water. We can even slow down climate change; if the world’s soils stored at least 0.4% more CO2 each year, it would offset all human CO2 emissions.
In this challenge, you are expected to provide solutions that will encourage farmers and the agro-industry to move towards regenerative agriculture: to meet climate change mitigation goals, to meet food security needs, to protect farmland, and to create a healthier food system.