Regenerative Agriculture in Action Across SAN’s Network: Data, local knowledge, and practical delivery are moving together

Across SAN’s network this week, one theme stood out: progress is happening where ideas meet implementation. From data systems that make agricultural AI more useful, to community learning visits, forest restoration, regenerative cotton, and agroecological pest management, members showed how sustainable agriculture becomes real when it is grounded in practice, participation, and collaboration.

Photo: Natalia Blauth - Unsplash+

Smarter agriculture starts with better data and stronger delivery

CABI put a spotlight on three pressures shaping the future of farming: the need for FAIR data systems for agricultural AI, the importance of putting One Health into practice in East Africa, and the ongoing threat of fall armyworm to food security and farmer livelihoods. Taken together, those updates point to a bigger shift: digital innovation matters most when it is backed by strong data, local relevance, and practical support for farmers on the ground.

CORAF underscored the scale question with TARSpro2 implementation across five priority countries, aiming to reach nearly 975,000 users of agricultural technologies and innovations. It also launched a consultancy call to document the impacts of agricultural technology parks, reinforcing that scaling innovation also means systematizing learning and evidence.

Circular Bioeconomy Alliance kept the bioeconomy conversation rooted in tangible action, from a keynote on Agroforestry Living Labs for regenerative landscapes to visibility for the New Wood exhibition on a bio-based future. The message was clear: regenerative landscapes are not a niche idea, but part of a wider transition away from fossil-based systems.

Forests, water, and climate resilience are inseparable

CIFOR-ICRAF brought the forest-water-livelihood nexus into sharp focus. Its World Water Day message on water and gender connected healthy forests to reduced daily burdens for women and girls, while a second update explained how forests and trees keep water flowing. On the ground, the network also joined partners to plant 4,000 tree seedlings across 43 species in Karura Forest and highlighted how the FACT Dialogue is advancing smallholder inclusion, traceability, and mutual recognition.

Rainforest Alliance echoed that systems view by stressing that forests are not only ecological assets, but also economic infrastructure. Its International Day of Forests post on forests, family agriculture, and livelihoods sat alongside a reminder that 85% of the world’s largest companies depend significantly on ecosystem services. It also launched FLOURISH to expand financial and livelihood opportunities for women and youth and made the case for regenerative agriculture in coffee as pressure grows on smallholder systems.

Preferred by Nature added a policy-and-practice dimension through its participation in the European Carbon Farming Summit 2026, where agriculture, forestry, and resilient landscapes came together in one conversation about climate mitigation and land stewardship.

Agroecology grows through exchange, value addition, and regenerative practice

PELUM Uganda showed what agroecology looks like when knowledge moves farmer to farmer. During its learning visits, participants shared lessons on integrating crops, livestock, and ecosystems while improving soil fertility through organic methods, explored urban agroecology in practice, and joined a community dialogue in Odyedo Agroecology Model Village focused on building support for agroecology policies and local action. The week also included practical market-facing learning, from coffee value addition with roasting, grinding, and packaging to examples of collective marketing, quality assurance, advocacy, and environmental conservation at Nawandala Integrated Farmers Co-operative Society.

CottonConnect highlighted how regenerative practice can strengthen both production and inclusion. New findings from the Egyptian Cotton Project demo trials pointed to improved soil health, resource efficiency, and resilience for cotton farmers, while its World Water Day message on women-centered water management emphasized that climate adaptation works better when those most affected are leading solutions.

Fairer agriculture also means justice, safer inputs, and local alternatives

Global Nature Fund reminded the sector that sustainability is not only about production methods, but also about fairness. Its advocacy for “Agriculture requires justice” linked biodiversity protection, soil and water conservation, and equitable pricing in one argument: agricultural systems cannot be truly sustainable without justice built in.

Red de Acción en Agricultura Alternativa Perú, also known as RAAA Perú, brought that principle down to field level by promoting marco-based plant biocides as an alternative for aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and small larvae while also warning about the continued spread of glyphosate among the country’s most imported pesticides. It was a practical reminder that agroecology is not abstract: it lives in the choices farmers can make today.

Conclusion: one network, many entry points for impact

What connects these updates is not a single method, crop, or geography. It is a shared direction of travel: better data, stronger local learning, healthier landscapes, more inclusive value chains, and clearer links between livelihoods and ecological resilience. Across SAN’s Global Impact Network, members are showing that agriculture can tackle pressing global challenges when action is rooted in evidence and accelerated through radical collaboration for people and planet.