The People and Practices of Regenerative Farming

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The People and Practices of Regenerative Farming

September 27, 2022

Across the world, the momentum for regenerative farming is growing. Its core practices, like using compost and cover crops and reducing the use of agrochemicals, provide positive benefits for people and nature.

For the environment, regenerative agriculture practices can increase carbon storage in the soil and protect biodiversity. And for the people practicing it, they can improve yields and productivity, improve farmers’ livelihoods, and increase their resilience to climate change.

But who are these regenerative farming communities, what are their practices, and how is Rare helping them farm more regeneratively?

Regenerative Farming is a climate solution that needs behavior change

Modern farming practices, like overusing chemical fertilizers, degrade soils and water, expand the agricultural frontier, and generate high carbon emissions. These practices undermine ecological integrity and agricultural productivity and damage farmers’ livelihoods and prosperity long term.

Regenerative farming is a powerful climate change solution that can transform farmers’ relationships with the land. Rooted in behavioral change, its practices rely on farmers changing their agricultural techniques to adopt more sustainable methods.

Through Rare’s Lands for Life program, Rare uses the science of human behavior and design thinking to help smallholder farmers and their communities in Colombia shift to more regenerative, sustainable, and low-carbon agricultural and ranching practices.

What are regenerative farming practices?

Use compost to fertilize soils

Farmers create compost to use in place of chemical fertilizers to reduce their use of agrochemicals.

Reduce use of agrochemicals

Farmers fertilize based on their soil analyses undertaken every three years.

Expand cover crops

Farmers plant more cover crops to restore the soil, reduce erosion, and remove carbon from the atmosphere (through photosynthesis).

Use weather and production (agroclimatic) data

Farmers use simple agroclimatic stations in their communities to record rain and temperature data, track their costs, inputs, and income, and help them use water efficiently.

Reforest with native trees and plants

Using native species, farmers increase tree cover on their lands and reforest other areas, and they conserve and plant nectariferous plants that provide biological pest controls, reduce pesticide use, and attract beneficial fauna.

Integrated Pest Management

Farmers reduce their use of chemicals by encouraging and relying on targeted insects and plants to help control diseases.

Who are the people behind regenerative farming?

Gladys Gonzalez, a cacao farmer at the La Fortuna farm in the Lejanias community of Meta, Colombia. Photo Credit: Rare	Small-scale farmers In the developing world, small family farmers (those farming under two hectares) produce nearly a third of the world’s food. In Colombia, seven out of every ten farmers are smallholder farmers. Rare empowers these farmers with the skills, tools, data and connections they need to make informed farming decisions. Our behavior-centered strategies provide the basis to support farmers in shifting to more regenerative practices and becoming multipliers of sustainable practices across their communities. And we offer mobile-based, timely, and personalized farming advice to farmers and complement this with field-based support from extension agents.
John Peña, an agricultural extension agent, farmer, and veterinarian from the municipality of Mesetas in Colombia’s Meta region. May 2022. Photo Credit: Rare	Extension agents Extension Agents are agricultural experts in rural areas. Our behaviorally-informed, technical training enhances extension agents’ outreach to farmers. Working with regional universities, we train extension service agents to instill innovation and local capacity across agriculture communities.
Workshop for local innovators (farmers, producers, ranchers) where they learn the importance of sustainable practices and how to implement them at their farms in Meta, Colombia. Photo Credit: Rare	Farming community members Members of a farming community consist of farmers, their families, their neighbors, local leaders, food buyers, local extension agents and local government officials. We partner with community members to co-design gender-responsive social marketing campaigns that awaken farmers’ pride in their land, encourage new farming practices, and foster social cohesion and trust.
Alexander Rojas, Rare’s technical coordinator in Meta, explains the benefits of climate-smart agriculture practices to a group of farmers in Vista Hermosa, Meta. Photo Credit: Rare	Local leaders We mobilize municipal authorities, community board members, water funds, watershed associations, and grassroots associations to build political support and buy-in to align agricultural productivity with environmental protection.