When we started our company in 2005, climate change still felt like a distant threat. Not today. When critical ecosystems are collapsing all around the globe, “sustainability” feels too little, too late. We need to rebuild what has been lost and do our best to help the world turn around global warming.
When agriculture is practiced with care and knowledge, it can become one of the most powerful solutions.
There is a vast collection of interconnected growing practices that can maximize a farm’s potential to draw carbon down into the soil, where it enriches soil life, improves resilience and increases yields.
Built on a complex understanding of farming and a respect for nature, these techniques also increase biodiversity and overall ecosystem health. Together, they are commonly referred to as regenerative agriculture.
Regenerative agriculture rests on the science of agroecology, with a deliberate focus on restoring what has been eroded.
If conventional agriculture is the time-pressed doctor that gives you pills when you are sick, and then more pills when you get sicker, regenerative agriculture is a range of influences that help you live stress free, eat well and exercise in order to get you back in shape.
Amazonian regenerative agroforestry system with bananas, brazil nuts, copoazu, papaya and more
The concrete methodology differs from one geographic context to the other, but it always relies on the same principles.
- The protection of soil health as the basis of all long-term agricultural productivity.
- A respect for circularity, giving back where we take out.
- And most importantly, an understanding of the complexity of natural ecosystems, and therefore a holistic approach to every intervention.
While the word “regeneration” is relatively new to the fresh fruit sector, many of its methods are less so. They often take inspiration from traditional, region-specific techniques, while other key practices have been developed by various strains of the organic movement.
One of the characteristic regenerative practices is intercropping plants that hold water or fix nutrients for each other, or that protect one another from pests or the weather.
Another is using cover crops or mulch to guard against weeds while keeping the captured carbon undisturbed in the ground in the form of an enriched soil life.
In each case, methods are chosen with an eye toward how they influence the natural processes in the broader area. Regenerative agriculture always requires an ecological awareness, a deep knowledge of the interactions between the plants, the climate and the soils that define a specific locale.
There are several holistic certification systems that verify whether a farm is truly practicing regenerative agriculture. Regenerative Organic Certified® represents the highest standard of outcome-based certifications. It requires organic and fair trade certifications as a baseline, and bans all industrial inputs, even those marketed as organic. Everything has to be obtained from the farm and the surrounding area. Then, through periodic field visits and document reviews, it verifies improvements in soil organic content, and guarantees the ethical and humane treatment of animals, and fairness for farmers & workers.
The biodynamic farms that we work with also practice regenerative agriculture. However, their Demeter certification takes a different angle – instead of focusing on outcomes, it puts process front and center, helping farmers adopt a complex, holistic cultivation method that ensures that all life on and around the farm is respected.
Soil cover on our Ecuadorian co-creator’s Regenerative Organic Certified® banana plantation.
It has to be noted that many growers who do not have additional certifications, but who started to practice organic agriculture out of a deep conviction, or who follow traditional, indigenous practices, also achieve regenerative outcomes.
In our next article, we will go into the details about what a successfully implemented regenerative system can achieve for climate resilience, long-term food security, local ecosystems, and indeed, for the biosphere — and why tropical, perennial agriculture has a pivotal role to play.