Regenerative agriculture: the key to restoring land

By Meshark Sikuku, Farm Systems and Sustainability Coordinator

As a nature-based farming solution, regenerative agriculture practices not only conserve the environment, but they work to reverse the damage of climate change.

“Regenerative agriculture is a method of farming which over time, contributes to the improvement of natural resources and thriving ecosystems. It protects and conserves the resources and life within and above the soil” – Meshark Sikuku, Farm Systems and Sustainability Coordinator at Ripple Effect.

Regenerative agriculture is dominated by five core principles:

1. Minimising soil disturbance
2. Maximising crop diversity
3. Keeping the soil covered
4. Maintaining living roots year-round
5. Integrating livestock

Methods within these principles include cover cropping, composting, crop rotation and more.

Farming communities in rural Africa are facing a hunger crisis, caused by climate shocks, degraded land, threatened biodiversity and farmers’ limited capacity to protect their land.

Learning about regenerative agriculture has been life-changing for the families Ripple Effect works with.

In the last financial year, 67% of farmers working with us said they improved their overall food security status. These individuals are no longer worried about food availability in their households thanks to their sustained production of crops, regardless of climate change challenges.

By developing their nature-based farming solutions, farmers who worked with Ripple Effect were able to:

• Regenerate their land, and enable themselves to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables;

• Harvest their crops and provide three nutritious meals for their entire family;

• Have a continuous production of crops, with surplus that they could gain an income from;

• Avoid expensive and harmful fertilisers and pesticides, without compromising their harvest yields;

• Adapt to climate change and gain resilience against extreme weather conditions.

Regenerative agriculture has an immense impact on both people and the planet. By learning simple skills and using existing resources available, farmers who previously lived in poverty have been able to revive their land and transform their lives.

Robert Barasa is a 50-year-old man who owns a 2.5-acre farm in Western Kenya. He has a family of two wives and eight children all who entirely depend on this small piece of land for growing their food and generating an income. Robert told us that before working with Ripple Effect, his family would often go to sleep hungry.

Robert joined Ripple Effect’s Improved Equine Welfare for Sustainable Livelihoods programme in Kenya in 2021, and was trained in regenerative agriculture practices as well as equine welfare.

Robert is now using nature-based farming solutions on his land: he has set up a keyhole garden, a mandala kitchen garden, has started composting, mulching, digging fertility trenches and mixing crops such as kale, bananas, spinach, onion, as well as drought-resistant cowpeas and cassava.

“These practices have enabled my farm to produce enough crop yields, and my family never lacks what to eat. Vegetables like kale which are very healthy and grow well, now are a source of income for me. Now I can have money in my pocket to enable my children to stay in school” – Robert Barasa, Ripple Effect project participant

Regenerative agriculture is a practice that falls within sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable agriculture includes various practices in addition to regenerative agriculture, such as agroforestry, permaculture, organic farming and more.

At Ripple Effect we use the term sustainable agriculture to also refer to the social and cultural interests of the communities we work with.

But for us at Ripple Effect, we view sustainable agriculture as a practice that also supports the social and cultural interests of communities and farmers. It’s not only about being sustainable for the environment – it’s also an approach that farmers can sustain long-term.

When we train families in sustainable agriculture, we take into account their personal circumstances, as well as the condition of their land. We consider their access to equipment and market systems, as well as potential challenges like harsh climates and governing agricultural policies. This way, we can ensure that their training is adapted to their situation, so they can keep using the methods they learn well beyond our intervention. An agricultural practice is only sustainable if a farmer can afford to keep doing it.

We have come to a point where climate change is causing devastating damage around the world. Many countries are now experiencing unprecedented extreme weather conditions.

Many parts of East and Southern Africa have been ravaged by long droughts and floods. Crops have been destroyed, livestock has died, water sources have dried up, market-enabling infrastructure was damaged, whole communities were displaced.

In 2023, 6.4 million people in Kenya required humanitarian assistance because of drought, while 2 million people were displaced due to the drought in the Horn of Africa.