Experts and changemakers discussed biodiversity, soils, financing and public policy in Brazil and online, as thousands joined to explore pathways to scale the transition and its relevance beyond food systems
Pecege, Brazil (June 25, 2026) – Pressure on the world’s food systems is increasing at an alarming rate and this year El Niño is predicted to intensify floods, droughts and supply chain disruptions. As governments and businesses race to strengthen food security, climate resilience and nature-positive supply chains, regenerative agriculture has moved from a niche practice to a global priority.
At the Regenerative Agriculture Forum 2026, farmers, scientists, investors, business leaders, community organizations and policymakers discussed ways to accelerate the adoption of agricultural practices that regenerate soils, preserve biodiversity and strengthen food security.
Analí Bustos, Strategic Director for Latin America at Naia Trust and Coordinator of GLFx Espinal Córdoba, highligthed nature as the absolute foundation of agriculture and the economy and underscored that the transition to regenerative agriculture is as urgent as the transitions in transport and energy. “The main challenge is to develop a logic of relationships – the transition is about the relationships between species and with the system,” she added, pointing to how, for example, ecology is often not included in agronomy or agriculture curricula in Argentina.
In line with Bustos, Xiaoan Li, Senior Program Officer at the Fetzer Institute, called for rethinking the roots of the ecological crisis through the lens of a relationship crisis. “Many of us have inherited a worldview of separation: humanity separated from nature, from one another, from future generations. Then extraction becomes normal, land becomes a commodity, water becomes a resource, the living world becomes something we manage rather than something to which we belong … If we can move from separation to belonging and from extraction to reciprocal relationship, regeneration will become more than something we just practice, but a way of being.”
Meanwhile, Isabela Pascoal Becker, Director of Sustainability, Governance and Impact at Daterra Coffee, called for a shift in how society perceives and undertakes agriculture, welcoming it as part of nature rather than an environmental problem. This mindset shift can increase opportunities for collaboration across stakeholders and sectors. “An important point raised in this discussion was systems thinking. We have all learned that it is impossible to solve the complexities we face today in a linear way by changing only one element.”
On the urgency of the transition, Ulrich Kuhlmann, Chief Scientist at CABI, underscored opportunities and significant barriers. He pointed to public-private partnerships, including multistakeholder processes in policy, research and production, as key to addressing the lack of evidence on returns for producers, particularly financial returns. Additionally, he pointed to how multistakeholder collaboration can address the 70% increase in pesticide use since 2000. “If we want regenerative agriculture to scale, we must invest not only in innovation but in independent advisory ecosystems, locally grounded evidence, knowledge platforms that make these innovations affordable, credible and actionable for all growers.”
Among the panels on impact finance, innovation, sustainable value chains and women’s and youth leadership in agriculture, experts and practitioners pointed to the importance of embracing diversity and broader collaboration across the sector.
Geoffrey Hawtin, 2024 World Food Prize Laureate and former director of CGIAR research centers, referred to developments driving regenerative agriculture, particularly in agrobiodiversity, such as progress in international policies and treaties, seed legislation, market development for ‘opportunity crops’, and plant breeding innovation. “With climate change, we are seeing a dramatic shift in the spectrum of pests and diseases attacking our crops. Rather than putting on more pesticides, a lot of breeding companies are looking into developing resistance and tolerance, and varieties that use water more efficiently. All these possibilities are on the horizon and need a consolidated effort from all of us.”
“As Indigenous women, without the forest we cannot live. As our forest disappears, our culture fades with it,” shared Nancy Reyna López, Weenhayek leader and Co-coordinator of GLFx Wikina Wos. She also warned about the risks facing her territory, which sustains her low-income community far from urban centers by providing medicinal plants, nutritious native foods and a place to pass down knowledge to children and teach them the value of their land. “I was born in that forest and I have the right to defend it, to cultivate it. I do not want to lose my culture, my mother tongue and the knowledge my grandparents have passed on to me.”
“Regenerative agriculture not only carries an important message for the times we are living in, but also represents a real possibility of transforming the relationship between society and nature through the initiatives of different groups of farmers, both landowners and traditional communities, whose material and spiritual culture must be permanently respected and valued,” said Ricardo Abramovay, leading authority on bioeconomy and Senior Professor at University of São Paulo. He invited all actors to negotiate a path away from harmful practices, understanding regenerative agriculture as much more than a technique, but as an ethical and normative value that can foster a healthier relationship between people and nature.
The forum, held in Brazil for the first time, was organized by the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), Imaflora and CABI. On Tuesday, June 23, it convened nearly 350 in-person participants in Piracicaba, São Paulo, and more than 3,700 online.
Rewatch the sessions, explore insights from all the experts and discover local regenerative initiatives at bit.ly/RegenAg2026. Explore the conference in pictures on Flickr.
###
NOTES TO EDITORS
- For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Kelly Quintero (k.quintero@landscapealliance.org)
- Find photos to illustrate your reporting on the GLF Flickr
- Explore more GLF updates in our media room
ABOUT THE GLF
The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, connecting people with a shared vision to create productive, profitable, equitable and resilient landscapes. It is led by Landscape Alliance – CIFOR & ICRAF in action, in collaboration with its co-founders UNEP and the World Bank, and its charter members. Learn more at www.globallandscapesforum.org.
