Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to farming that focuses on actively restoring and improving ecosystems by putting soil health first, drawing from indigenous land management traditions, agroecology research, and permaculture design. It has its detractors, but given that a UN FAO official stated in 2014 that the world’s soil is so depleted we “only have 60 harvests left”, it’s a methodology that actors across the agri-food value chain are starting to take seriously.
One organisation bringing the industry together is the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform. Founded nearly 25 years ago, this global, non-profit organisation aims to lead the food and drink industry’s transition to regenerative agriculture and sustainable food production systems.
Its 190+ members include over 20 agricultural co-operatives, such as Arla (Europe), Lakeland Dairies (Ireland), Fonterra (New Zealand), Ocean Spray and Land O’Lakes (both USA), alongside global brands like Carlsberg, Diageo, FrieslandCampina and Mondelēz.
“We promote good agricultural principles and practices,” says SAI Platform director general, Dionys Forster. “Our founding premise was the idea of coming together, pooling talents, resources, knowledge and expertise to develop solutions that are practically relevant to the long-term goal of sustainable agriculture, and now, more importantly, regenerative agriculture.”
The organisation has three working groups focusing on crops, dairy and beef, and works on a number of strategic pillars to develop future talent, collaborative actions and industry solutions where, says Forster, “we develop frameworks and solutions that benefit members along the value chain up to the farm level”.
SAI Platform is headquartered in Switzerland, and organised as a not-for-profit association, under Swiss law. “We are very much a member-driven organisation,” he adds. “We try to harness this collaborative power, and create forums where members can come in and co-operate to co-create agendas together. Our members include co-ops at all stages of the supply chain, including farming co-operatives and co-op processors.
“Co-operatives are very strong in the agri chain, especially in processing. Some can be very corporate, but some are very close to the farmers as well, and send their farmer members to attend the meetings – who are always very insightful and give a lot of advice.”
Forster says SAI Platform is ultimately about encouraging “a change in direction when it comes to how we source and produce our food [by] bringing together these big companies who have got massive sourcing strategies around the world, focusing in at that point where they’re engaging with the farmers.”
One of the key practices of regenerative agriculture is using natural fertilisers instead of synthetic inputs. This conversation is particularly important now, he says, because on the back of the current Middle East conflict “everybody in the food and beverage industry is aware that farmers are seeing fertiliser prices going up,” Forster says. “But even before all these geopolitical events, the industry had started to realise we will need to move towards more resilient supply chains; regenerative agriculture is that vehicle to get to this resilience.”
But regenerative agriculture isn’t beloved by everyone, with some activists viewing it as a greenwashing label for the meat industry – partly due to a lack of clear and globally recognised legal standards which has arguably led to major meat and dairy corporations co-opting the term and using it to mislead consumers.
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“In 2021, 33 members came together and said, ‘Look, SAI Platform, can you not help in defining what regenerative agriculture means, because we don’t want to fall into this trap of greenwashing, and we don’t make want to make false claims, we want to be very mindful and do it right’,” says Forster.
“So we got the mandate to begin quite a lengthy process of defining really what we mean by regenerative agriculture, and the framework we developed helps us to define [the term] and bring everybody on the same page.”
This work informed its landmark Regenerating Together Programme, which, it says, offers a flexible, science-based toolset that includes “a global definition of and an aligned approach to regenerative agriculture”.
Initially launched in 2023, the programme aims to “mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change, improve soil health, support biodiversity, retain water in the soil while reducing its consumption and improve farmers’ livelihoods in a just transition approach”.
It has three core components: a global regenerative agriculture framework to define and prioritise outcomes from regenerative farming practices; an outcome assessment and reporting process to monitor and report progress; and transition support and implementation guidance to develop and implement local plans.
“We developed the framework together with members, academics, not-for-profit organisations, and consultancies working in farm sustainability,” says Forster. “We also have an advisory board. But we are very mindful that agriculture is not the same everywhere, so the framework allows you to adjust to local context. For example, a co-operative in one location can adapt it to their farming environment and sourcing district, while another does it differently. Regenerating Together will not look exactly the same in every location.”
The process starts with a baseline assessment, after which a continuous improvement plan is developed together with the farmer, and then monitored over time. “We also have a number of KPIs that are tracked periodically rather than year by year, because some of them change only slowly,” Forster explains.
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“In addition to the framework itself, we have developed a process verification system, which verifies whether Regenerating Together has been implemented correctly, rather than verifying outcomes. If a member wishes to make claims, they can compare their baseline with progress and commission a scientific study, or have KPIs externally verified, but that would be done by an external organisation.”
The programme also has a benchmarking component, which allows third-party regenerative or sustainability schemes to be benchmarked against the SAI Platform Regenerating Together scheme, including member schemes. “This gives transparency and enables harmonisation across the sector. A farmer operating under a third-party scheme that is benchmarked to SAI Platform can then sell to different off-takers and refer to that benchmark. It reduces the burden not just on farmers, but on those implementing third-party schemes as well.”
An updated framework narrative was published in 2024, with additional supporting documents following in January 2025. In April this year, SAI Platform published the results of 35 regenerative agriculture pilots completed across 25 countries and in May, 40 leading food and agriculture organisations signed a shared declaration of intent to scale regenerative agriculture.
SAI Platform will host the public launch of the next phase of the Regenerating Together Programme in June 2026 at its upcoming annual event in Saskatoon, Canada.
“Regenerative agriculture is ultimately about outcomes,” says Forster, with the framework providing the means to record the scientific evidence to demonstrate improved soil, water management and biodiversity. “These are verifiable results, not just ‘we’ve changed our practices and this is what we’re doing now.’
“That process side still matters, because we need to understand what works and what doesn’t. But with a more outcome-focused approach, the onus is more on the farmer themselves and what works for them, on their land, in their farming system. I think this is what will make any stories or claims that come out of this more impactful, honest and true. This was at the forefront of our whole approach. We don’t want it to fall into just another pile of nonsense.”
