CA4SH Develops Plan to Accelerate Regenerative Agriculture for Healthy Soil and Healthy Diets for COP30 Action Agenda

The COP30 Action Agenda is the UNFCCC COP30 Presidency’s flagship initiative to mobilize voluntary climate action from multistakeholder organizations to tackle the climate crisis in line with the Paris Agreement. The Action Agenda engages actors outside of government, those who are not included in the formal negotiations, but who are essential for actioning the climate agreements on the ground.

The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) is an initiative of Action Group 8, Land Restoration and Sustainable Agriculture, that addresses one of the six thematic axes laid out by the COP30 Presidency, namely, Axis 3. Transforming Agriculture and Food Systems. Learn more about the structure and calls of the Action Agenda here and about the composition of the Action Groups here

Included in the Action Agenda is a call for active solutions to achieve the goals of the Convention. CA4SH and several partners have submitted a solution which aims to bring soil health to the forefront of agricultural transformation. In advance of the COP30, we are excited to share an outline of the solution below. To engage in this initiative, please contact Dr Leigh Winowiecki (l.a.winowiecki@cifor-icraf.org) and the CA4SH Coordination team (coordination@coalitionforsoilhealth.org)!

Regenerative Agriculture for Healthy Soil and Healthy Diets: Evidence Generation to Inform Policy, Practice and Finance to Scale Regenerative Agriculture for Diets and Nutrition From the Soil Up 

Details

Axis: 3. Transforming Agriculture and Food Systems

Key Objective: 8. Land restoration and sustainable agriculture

Host initiative: Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH)

Participating Initiatives/Partners: RAFT, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Action on Food Hub, Environmental Defense Fund, 4p1000 Initiative, Regen10, The Rockefeller Foundation, CIFOR-ICRAF, SNV, WBCSD, WWF, Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD), East Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF).

Scope: Global food systems with a focus on addressing gaps linking production and consumption — driving regional action, national strategies, and local implementation 

• Geographic: Global 

• Sectoral: Agriculture, Food, Land Use, linkages to Health and Nutrition, Climate, Biodiversity, Finance 

• Other aspects: Livelihoods, Restoration of Degraded Lands, Food and Nutrition Security, Climate Resilience, Diverse Knowledge Systems, Equity and Inclusion 

Overview

This plan accelerates a global shift toward regenerative agriculture that nourishes both people and the planet, linking science, policy and finance to build healthy soil, improve diets, and transform food systems from the soil to the plate.

Strategic pillars:

1) Measuring the impact of regenerative agriculture across the value chain

• Leverage and harmonize existing metrics and indicator frameworks to enable consistent monitoring of regenerative agriculture across diverse agroecosystems, from soil to human health, connecting outcomes and metrics for soil, agriculture, food production and human health, including metrics across the value chain and through consumption.. 

• Establish long-term engagement landscapes, called “lighthouses”, to serve as hubs for learning, monitoring and stakeholder collaboration.

• Implement an adaptive and flexible monitoring framework that can evolve to encourage sustained use, which provides a robust evidence base to inform policy, practice, and financing.

2) Scaling farmer-centered regenerative agricultural practices through markets and incentives

• Strengthen market demand for regenerative food, for example, through leveraging public procurement for nutritious food in schools and hospitals.

• Design incentive mechanisms and financing models that reward regenerative outcomes including improved soil health, biodiversity, food quality and consumption patterns.

• Engage young people to develop youth-led solutions to transform food systems for generations to come.

• Social entrepreneurship to build capacity through educational programs and strengthen peer-to-peer learning

• Develop capacity of farmers, communities, extension systems, and value chain actors to support scaling and knowledge exchange.  

• Build engagement models across the value chain from farmers, to buyers, retailers and processors to create procurement opportunities.

3) Unlock and redirect sources of finances for regen practices

• Increase sources of finances going to regenerative solutions. 

• Increase public procurement investments.

• Enable blended financing mechanisms to accommodate risks in agriculture.

4)  Integration into policy and public programs

• Bring evidence to bear to re-purpose agricultural subsidies and public investment to support regenerative transitions.

• Identify key entry points in national and subnational policy frameworks, such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and Agricultural Sector Strategies, to embed regenerative agriculture, soil health, and healthy diets into broader development and climate agendas.

• Collaborate with ongoing food system transformation agendas, including across the three Rio Conventions, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, among others, to amplify impact and policy coherence.