Agriculture with a positive impact
on nature and climate

The Netherlands is known around the world for its highly efficient agricultural sector, with high production levels per unit of input, low resource use and low emissions and losses to the environment per kilogram of food produced. Over the last decades impressive results have been achieved in the reduction of environmental impacts.

Despite these results, Dutch agriculture faces serious challenges to achieve the sustainability goals of the UN (Sustainability Development Goals), the EU and the Dutch government  with respect to planetary boundaries (climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater use, nutrient cycling and land system change), as well as society (consumer and societal acceptance, risk of zoönoses). Meanwhile many farmers are facing significant challenges to earn a living income.

A team of researchers from Wageningen, Utrecht and Amsterdam universities, coordinated by TiFN, is exploring how the Dutch agricultural system can become regenerative, with positive impact on nature and the living environment, and with healthy farmer business models. This team is collaborating in a public private partnership program that is funded by FrieslandCampina, Cosun, BO akkerbouw, Rabobank, Topsector Agri & Food and TiFN.

The research program will deliver:

• An integrated long term outline (2050) of a regenerative agriculture system at national scale;
• Assessment of expected impact of running initiatives and existing best practices towards this integrated outline;
  
• Co-creating next practices of regenerative agriculture;
  
• ‘Proof of principle’ of a regenerative agriculture system for use case the Netherlands, at scale and with sound business models: several quantified scenarios in compliance with the outline for 2050;
  
• Science based and quantified transition scenario’s from the existing agriculture system towards the 2050 outline.

The team of researchers cooperates with a community of practice of 20 farmers in the Netherlands. This community is set up to facilitate the sharing of best practices between farmers, to measure the impact of best practices and helps researchers to learn from farmers what systemic changes are needed to enable a transition towards regenerative agriculture.