RAFI-USA is pleased to join A Greener World and Soil Health Institute as recipients of a USDA Climate-Smart Commodities grant, one of 141 projects announced in late 2022. This grant program is part of a historic $3.1 billion federal investment and, according to the USDA, this major commitment will deliver on its promise to expand markets for the U.S.’s climate-smart commodities and leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production.
“Increasing Accessibility to Regenerative Farming Practices and Markets for Small and/or Underserved Producers” will be led by nonprofit certifier A Greener World (AGW) with RAFI-USA and Soil Health Institute (SHI) as partners in implementation. The project, slated to receive up to $4 million in funding, will assist small and underserved producers with climate-smart regenerative farm planning and emissions reduction plan design, as well as incentivize participation and climate-smart practice implementation.
AGW also plans to provide customized marketing support to project participants who earn its Certified Regenerative by AGW certification, enabling them to access new climate-smart markets and sell commodities for a higher premium. RAFI-USA and SHI will work alongside AGW, with RAFI-USA providing technical support in regenerative plan development and SHI providing practical and scientific expertise in soil health analysis and measurement.
The term regenerative agriculture has been increasingly covered in the media. While not a new concept (after all, humans have been using regenerative practices for thousands of years), regenerative has become one of the latest farming buzzwords — and opportunities. AGW Executive Director Emily Moose says, “Here at A Greener World, we’d go so far as to say that the collection of practices described as regenerative could have huge potential to put the brakes on — and even reverse — many of the negative impacts of intensive agriculture.”
Regenerative agriculture … gives back to the land…. As the soil grows richer, the crops grow healthier.
The term regenerative agriculture is generally used to refer to a range of sustainable stewardship practices, many of which have been used by Indigenous and traditional agricultural communities for thousands of years. However, rising interest has led to wide and growing variation in how regenerative is defined and practiced.
As commitments to adopt regenerative practices increase, so does the risk of misusing the claim to imply sustainability without delivering it. Indeed, a number of regenerative programs and initiatives have sprung up around the world. Some are well-considered and commendable; others are vague and misleading.
“There is incredible momentum around regenerative farming, but we need transparency to prevent regenerative from becoming another meaningless industry claim. Our program offers a way to define, validate, and certify that the farming systems using the regenerative claim are truly regenerative,” says Moose. “Farms making an AGW-certified regenerative claim clearly show customers that they are building healthy, biologically diverse soils that produce nutritious food while enhancing the environment and the farmer’s livelihood.”
Writing in the now defunct publication The Counter in mid-2021, author Joe Fassler says that “the growing, still-incipient movement harbors a secret below its hopeful surface: No one really agrees on what ‘regenerative agriculture’ means, or what it should accomplish, let alone how those benefits should be quantified.” He continues, “Significant disagreements remain — not only about practices like cover crops, or the feasibility of widespread carbon capture, but about market power and racial equity and land ownership. Even as ‘regenerative’ gets increasingly hyped as a transformative solution, the fundamentals are still being negotiated.”
RAFI-USA’s Executive Director Edna Rodriguez says, “We can share numerous examples of farmers we work with in our Farmers of Color Network (FOCN) — Black, brown, Indigenous and other farmers of color — who have been farming this way for a very long time and some of whom have had farming passed down through many generations.”
George and Krista High from Cedar Seeder Wellness Farm in Snellville, GA, and recipients of a 2021 RAFI-USA FOCN Infrastructure Grant say, “We practice regenerative agriculture as an approach that gives back to the land where the result is heartier soil that is nutrient-rich. As the soil grows richer, the crops grow healthier.”
In fact, one of the primary drivers for AGW’s launch of the new Certified Regenerative by AGW label last summer was this uncertainty and ambiguity of the term. AGW’s Emily Moose explains, “Certified Regenerative isn’t something we just pulled off the shelf to jump on the regenerative bandwagon. It is the culmination of more than four years of work across four continents to develop effective, appropriate, and workable standards, based on the understanding that regenerative certification should be inclusive and accessible to farms of all sizes, shapes, and backgrounds.”
Certified Regenerative by AGW is the only third-party certification system that measures change by meeting producers where they are and partnering on a journey of measurable regeneration. It is also the only one that audits in conjunction with a Regenerative Plan, ensuring site-specific, measurable progress. The program also stands alone in measuring change through soil, water, and air, while also requiring regenerative practices in biodiversity, buildings, animal health and welfare, and assurances of key social responsibility principles.
Certified Regenerative by AGW is a tool for measuring and managing the process of regeneration with continual improvement expectations until a state of ecological equilibrium is reached.
“We recognize the constant struggle to meet the everchanging demands of a market that is disconnected from agriculture,” says Moose. “One of our goals is to address sustainability in such a holistic context that farmers are effectively ready for any new food fashion — in other words, trend-proof,” she concludes.
[UPDATE: In April 2025, the USDA announced the cancellation of many projects under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative. Check the status of changes in USDA programs here.]
Adapted from an article originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of AGW’s Sustainable Farming magazine by Katie Amos.