SAI Platform and EIT Food join forces to scale regenerative agriculture
19th February 2025
In an important step toward advancing sustainable food systems, SAI Platform has partnered with the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food to promote and scale regenerative agriculture. This collaboration underscores SAI Platform’s commitment to fostering closer ties between the food and beverage industry and the public sector to drive impactful agricultural transformation.
“This partnership reflects our shared vision of scaling regenerative agriculture through innovation and collaboration. By leveraging the collective expertise of all partners in this multistakeholder approach, we aim to drive regenerative agriculture in practice while strengthening the Regenerating Together Framework to deliver environmental, social, and economic benefits.“
Dominik Klauser, Regenerative Agriculture Director, SAI Platform.
The partnership’s inaugural initiative, Navarra 360º, is part of EIT Food’s Regenerative Innovation Portfolio, which seeks to unlock new collaborative partnerships across the food and agriculture value chain while bringing practical solutions to enable viable short and long-term business models for farmers transitioning towards regenerative agriculture.
Navarra 360º is the first regenerative agriculture initiative marking the start of a partnership between EIT Food and SAI Platform. Led by EIT Food and co-financed by Danone Ecosystem, Alpro, Cargill and Intermalta, Navarra 360º draws on the collaboration of a broad coalition of stakeholders, including local cooperatives, banks, and government representatives. This initiative takes a holistic approach by assessing key impact areas such as soil health, biodiversity, water use, climate, and farmer livelihoods.
Initially investing €2.5 million between 2024-2027, Navarra 360º aims to support 80 farmers in Navarre, Spain, as they adopt regenerative agricultural practices within their crop rotation systems, focusing on oat, wheat, and barley production. Farmers will receive tailored technical training and individualised guidance from agronomic experts to develop and execute three-year transition plans.
This pioneering initiative will pilot SAI Platform’s Regenerating Together Framework (RTF) across several value chains, leveraging the programme’s position as an industry-aligned approach to measuring, reporting and verifying regenerative agriculture outcomes. The practical implementation of the RTF within this landscape initiative will provide invaluable insights to further develop and enhance the Regenerating Together Programme over time.
Reflecting on the partnership through the lens of Navarra 360º, EIT Food South Director Begoña Pérez Villarreal has added that “Farmers are the basis of the project, every activity is designed with them in mind. With this partnership, we are focusing on bringing elements of innovation that can accelerate that transition to regenerative agriculture.”
Key levels of success and scalability of Navarra 360º include:
- A farmer-centric approach: Farmers are the foundation of this project. They will be supported to implement regenerative practices and gather essential data to measure impact as part of the capability-building element of the project.
- Outcome baselining and allocating impact: Accurate baselining and measuring of the identified indicators at the engaged farms to enable verified claims. For indicators relating to climate, clear traceability and allocation rules will be defined to deliver proportional allocation of greenhouse gas emission contribution relating to the raw material between participants.
- Digital Tools: Advanced technologies to collect data to enhance transparency and accuracy for monitoring and reporting.
By combining financial support, technical training and industry commitments, Navarra 360º aims to enhance soil health, protect biodiversity and improve farmer livelihoods, ensuring a more resilient and sustainable agricultural landscape. With this initiative poised to set a precedent for future regenerative agriculture projects worldwide, the partnership marks a crucial step in transforming regenerative agriculture from an emerging concept into a viable and scalable solution for sustainable food production.
