A Genealogy of Sustainable Agriculture Narratives: Implications for the Transformative Potential of Regenerative Agriculture

This paper, by Anja Bless, Federico Davila, and Roel Plant explores how regenerative agriculture can be contextualised within existing sustainable agriculture narratives, and the implications that this may have for its transformative potential.

This analysis reveals that the genealogies of these sustainable agriculture narratives have led to a number of contestations and complementarities which have coalesced to drive the emergence of regenerative agriculture.

The paper finds that regenerative agriculture may lack consideration of power and equity issues in the agri-food system, unlike other sustainable agriculture narratives like agroecology.

While regenerative agriculture could contribute towards a plurality of sustainable farming approaches that collectively move us closer to a sustainable, diverse, and just agri-food system, social and ecological challenges must be addressed in order for its transformative potential to be fulfilled.

Read the full paper here.