Photo: Iside Farms in Brescia Province, Italy by EIT Food

Regenerative Agronomists

Location: European Union
Start date: February 2025; Duration: 4 years
Partners: Climate Farmers Academy, EIT Food
Partner project page: link

This pilot project will train a new generation of regenerative agronomists through a hands-on program that pairs participants with farms – especially those with animal integration, which is fundamental for regeneration – across Europe. The project addresses the shortage of qualified consultants in regenerative agriculture, helps farms transition to sustainable methods, and builds long-term career pathways for agronomists.

Desired project outcomes:

• The critical shortage of regenerative agronomists identified in a Europe-wide systems mapping is addressed, meeting a major need for farmers and serving as a key lever for food systems change.
• Farms in Europe are able to transition to regenerative agriculture leading to improved soil health, carbon sequestration, ecosystem resilience, and positive social impact.

Project approach:

Increase access to expertise in regenerative agriculture in Europe through:

• Training ten consulting agronomists in regenerative practices.
• Matching consulting agronomists with regenerative farms for 1-2 month on farm internships.
• Producing accredited and scalable online training materials featuring internationally recognized experts in regeneration.
• Matching consulting agronomists with farms that want to transition to develop tailored regenerative transition plans with them.
• Measuring plan implementation progress for transitioning farms for 3 years using Climate Farmers’ MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) framework.
• Securing accreditation through EIT Food and promoting the program across 200 European universities.
• Partnering with agricultural corporations to create career pathways for graduates.

DMSF focus and collaboration:

• Farmer focus: At the project’s inception it shared DMSF’s farmer-centric focus; the co-construction process introduced an increased focus on the diversity in geographical and gender representation among the farmers involved. Additionally, we connected several farmers and regenerative trainers from our network to strengthen the program.
• Regenerative animal integration: DMSF supported animal integration practices in the course materials, and added a focus on host farms already with animals in the system or an interest in transitioning to animal inclusion.
• Impact measurement: With the support of DMSF, the project will measure and track several farmer and environmental indicators including:
  • Farmer support:
    • № digital training pieces available (target: 12)
    • № farms receive reviewed transition plans (target: 10)
  • Effectiveness of training via:
    • № of regenerative agronomists trained and certified (target: 10)
    • № of graduates to receive work assignments in regenerative agriculture (target: 80% within 6 months of graduation)
  • Farm-based environmental indicators via Climate Farmers’ MRV monitoring system, including:
    • soil health
    • water use/pollution
    • biodiversity

How this project’s impact can scale:

By bridging the gap between education and practice, this project ensures farmers can access regenerative agriculture expertise tailored to their needs. By establishing a robust pipeline of qualified consultants, this pilot project aims to plant the seeds for agronomists to be able to help European farms transition to regenerative farming while supporting animal integration, improving biodiversity, reducing carbon footprints, increasing sustainability, and helping rural communities thrive. In addition, this project can help (i) demonstrate to universities the demand for regenerative agronomists, encouraging them to implement regenerative programs into their curriculum and (ii) provide a replicable and easily accessible program to be used in other geographies around the globe.