Regenerative agriculture and adaptive capacity of farmers

Abstract

Regenerative agriculture is a transformative approach to food and fibre production that has a strong emphasis on climate change mitigation and a host of environmental and sociological benefits. Hence, adaptive capacity is recognised as a crucial property for societies to adapt to and transform systems in response to changing conditions such as climate change. A key challenge in assessing adaptation strategies is balancing the environment, financial and social factors, and an assessment of the adaptive capacity determinants within regenerative agriculture is sparse. The present article explores resilience theory as a foundation for assessing the adaptive capacity determinants and analyses examples of regenerative agriculture practices. A conceptual model is therefore developed to highlight the circularity of regenerative agriculture with the environmental, financial and social benefits that the adaptation of regenerative agriculture can bring.