Agriculture in Action: SAN Members Driving Change | August 31 – September 6, 2025

Each week, SAN members take meaningful action toward regenerative, resilient, and equitable agriculture. The latest updates reflect a strong focus on innovation, biodiversity, and community empowerment — all central to SAN’s 2025–2030 Strategic Plan. Below are key highlights organized by SAN’s core areas of strategic interest.

🌾 Climate-Smart and Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture remains a central theme across the network, with multiple members advancing dialogue, policy influence, and practical action.

Preferred by Nature promoted two major events: the Regenerative Agriculture Summit EU 2025, focusing on financing, regulation, and social impact; and the upcoming International Sustainable Rice Forum 2025, set to gather 500 global participants to shape the future of low-carbon, sustainable rice systems.

CottonConnect shared the outcomes of roundtable discussions held in Türkiye, China, and Egypt, pointing to shared insights around the implementation of regenerative practices. Read them here.

At ExpoCacau in Brazil, the Rainforest Alliance emphasized regenerative agriculture as a path to both resilience and sustainability for the cocoa sector.

Rainforest Alliance team participating in the ExpoCacau.

👥 Social Inclusion and Farming Communities

A Rainforest Alliance project in Ghana's cocoa region was showcased by Reuters as a success story, in which women-led savings groups and child protection initiatives are helping children stay in school instead of go work in farms.

Fundación Pachamama honored the International Day of Indigenous Women, amplifying the role of Amazonian women in sustaining life and culture. The foundation also highlighted ecotourism programs that link conservation with Indigenous leadership.

🔁 Innovation and Digital Transformation

Innovation continues to shape food systems across SAN’s network, particularly in Africa. This week, CORAF and CABI both played leading roles at the Africa Food Systems Forum 2025, underscoring the power of collaboration in advancing digital and regenerative solutions.

CORAF hosted and co-organized several high-profile sessions focused on digital agriculture, agroecology, and improving access to seeds. A new memorandum of understanding with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT will scale up innovation and resilience across West and Central Africa.

CABI also strengthened partnerships at the Forum, highlighting its work with rural youth through the PlantwisePlus programme and forging connections with government actors to expand digital knowledge-sharing and capacity building in agriculture.

🌱 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Conservation efforts remain grounded in fieldwork and community collaboration. Fundación Global Nature worked directly with farmers during harvest to protect bird nests, placing beacons to safeguard ground-nesting birds in Spanish agricultural landscapes, while CABI warned about pest threats to apple production, which cause 20% yield losses in India and significant economic damage in the U.S. It also raised alarm over wheat stem rust threatening East Africa’s wheat supply — underlining the urgency for integrated pest management and climate-smart responses.

At the Africa Food System Forum, CABI reported that rural youth in Kenya and Uganda are becoming agri-entrepreneurs and crop service providers through its PlantwisePlus programme.

SAN members continue to translate values into action, contributing to all four of SAN’s strategic goals: regenerative agriculture, biodiversity enhancement, climate resilience, and community empowerment. These updates show how SAN’s global network drives collective impact by scaling localized innovations, deepening inclusion, and sharing practical solutions.

Follow SAN’s channels to stay connected to these stories of transformation in sustainable agriculture.