By Robyn Joubert
Regenerative agriculture is gaining traction as a means to improve food production and economic sustainability while rebuilding degraded land. However, knowledge transfer and access to finance and inputs is essential to encourage smallholder farmers in Africa to make the transition.
This was a take-home point of a panel discussion on Regenerative Revolution: Building More Sustainable Solutions for Smallholder Farmers, at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. The panel discussion highlighted the need for practical regenerative interventions across the agriculture value chain.
In Africa, smallholder farmers produce up to 70-80% of food in some countries but are vulnerable to extreme poverty, climate change and hunger. Regenerative agriculture can potentially offset these impacts.
“Regenerative agriculture comes down to producing more while restoring more,” said Jens Hartmann, Bayer Crop Science Head of the EMEA Region.
“We need a concerted effort to help farmers who are already bearing the brunt of climate change. We need to think about aspects like inputs, capacity, policies and tariffs. We need to be intentional about the tools we can use to support farmers,” Jens said.
Samuel Nsengiymva, a young Rwandan farmer associated with AgriResearch Unguka, said smallholder farmers had a desire for more knowledge about regenerative agriculture and how it can benefit them.
“The training and education of smallholder farmers in regenerative agriculture is so important. We need both partners and platforms to help in this much-needed knowledge sharing,” said Samuel.
Mildred Nadah Pita, Bayer head of Public Affairs and Sustainability for Africa, said more needed to be done to improve the understanding and adoption of regenerative agricultural principles and to keep the land productive, restore and preserve natural resources, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
“African farmers are already applying many elements of regenerative agriculture that help protect and improve soil health, biodiversity and water sources. These efforts should be recognized and supported in the value chain and be encouraged through agricultural policies,” said Mildred.
The event also identified access to affordable financing and essential inputs as other significant barriers for many farmers, and spotlighted the need for stronger partnerships.
“Forging stronger partnerships in the agricultural value chain to serve farmers is key to unlocking the potential of regenerative agriculture in the smallholder market,” said Jens.
