The role of regenerative agriculture in strengthening food systems

Only 6.5% of farm managers in the European Union are under age 35, according to the European Commission, and this percentage reflects a decline from 7.3% in 2005. As the number of young farmers entering the sector decreases, an ageing generation is left to shoulder the responsibility of producing quality and sustainable ingredients. In addition to the impacts of climate change, rising costs and limited access to land, the widespread perception of farming as an unstable or unrewarding career exacerbates the issue. This perception drives many young people away, causing them to leave behind farms that have been passed down through generations. These challenges also highlight the need for new approaches, offering a chance to reimagine farming for the future.

To ensure a resilient food supply and bring young agripreneurs’ back into the fold, farming must offer not just sustainability but opportunity. That’s where regenerative agriculture comes in. Including well-known but long-forgotten agricultural practices combined with today’s technology, this concept has now emerged as a vital blueprint for the sector’s future. More than a buzzword, regenerative agriculture offers a new path forward. Regenerative agriculture impacts more than individual farms – it supports entire ecosystems. These practices can strengthen farms, communities and rural areas by helping to restore soil health, protect shared water resources, and create biodiversity corridors. This shift underscores regenerative agriculture’s potential to attract and inspire the next generation of farmers and to build a more resilient and profitable farming future.

We often talk about how regenerative agriculture can unlock the next generation of farmers, but I believe the reverse is also true – the next generation of farmers will be the ones to unlock regenerative agriculture.

Laurent Freixe CEO, Nestlé

Momentum around regenerative agriculture is growing. Its role in shaping the future of farming is taking centre stage at global forums, such as the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos. During the WEF, Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe highlighted Nestlé's work with farmers to help scale regenerative agriculture. He stressed that meaningful change requires collaboration across the entire value chain, with big businesses playing a key role in driving progress. These collaborations aim to improve farm resilience, boost farmers' livelihoods and ensure food security for future generations.

Building on the conversations sparked at Davos, POLITICO Focus sat down with Freixe to discuss how regenerative agriculture can reshape farming, the role of cross-sector collaboration, and the steps needed to help make these practices the new standard.

How can we encourage young people to become farmers, especially when many leave rural areas?

The movement to urban areas has been happening for decades. Now, we need to show young people that they can integrate technology, contribute to regenerative agriculture and secure long-term income – they can make a living in agriculture.

Part of that is reimagining agriculture as a sector poised for technology-driven entrepreneurs. The younger generations can now understand how to modernise agriculture and use technology in ways previous generations couldn’t. Agtech training in digital farming tools, precision agriculture and AI-driven farming techniques can appeal to young people while making farming more efficient. Smart farming methods mean farmers can take advantage of smaller land units with higher yields. Teaching young potential farmers how today’s technology combined with tried-and-true farming techniques can contribute to regenerative agriculture shows them how they can earn a stable income through farming.

The younger generation isn’t necessarily against working in farming and agriculture – they need the right opportunities and incentives. It will take a combination of economic incentives, education and training, technology integration and cultural shifts.

What role does Nestlé play in supporting farmers financially?

Transitioning to regenerative agriculture presents an initial investment and can involve certain risks for farmers but might lead to more efficient and productive farming systems in the long term. Nestlé provides financial resources and incentives for dairy, cocoa and coffee farmers for example to support this shift. This includes offering financing options, establishing long-term contracts, premium prices for goods produced through regenerative agriculture practices, and creating market-based incentives. This is where the industry can step up and meet farmers amid these financial challenges.

Nestlé integrates sustainability benchmarks into defining ingredient quality, rewarding farmers who meet regenerative agriculture criteria. In the UK, the Nestlé Milk Plan – developed in partnership with the supplier First Milk, with whom we have been working for over 21 years – collaborates with 80 farms that supply 100% of the fresh milk used by Nestlé in the UK, offering financial incentives for protecting and enhancing their farmland’s natural assets.

How does Nestlé scale regenerative agriculture beyond just small pilot projects?

We are not here for short-term pilot projects. We know that the transition to regenerative agriculture practices is a learning journey and requires investments that may impact productivity at the beginning. So, financing is critical to get us there. And the patience pays off – we have promising initial results that farmers in many cases stand to see an increase in crop yields and profits, and better economic resilience when facing adverse weather conditions like droughts.

We’re already actively scaling up. By 2030, we expect 50 percent of our ingredients to come from farms implementing regenerative agriculture practices. Our interim goal was 20 percent by 2025, and we surpassed that goal, reaching 21.3 percent in 2024.

How does Nestlé address farmers’ frustrations about changing regulations and market demand?

We are aware of the challenges farmers face and their need for support. For decades, we have been working with farmers worldwide, supporting them in business management, enhancing productivity, complying with quality and food safety standards, and establishing agricultural practices on their farms. This support is provided through on-the-ground training and technical assistance, as well as through quality premiums and financial incentives.

Nestlé offers farmers comprehensive training programmes that can help them increase their adoption of regenerative agriculture practices, yield and income. One coffee farmer, who’s part of our supply chain in Vietnam, increased his coffee farm's yield from two to nearly three tons per acre after attending our training, and the substantial increase in efficiency and income meant he could afford to send his child to university.

 What partnerships are Nestlé pursuing to achieve its regenerative agriculture goals?

We absolutely need partnerships as a company cannot achieve alone the transformation that is at the core of scaling regenerative agriculture. At Nestlé, we collaborate across the value chain to support farmers, help restore landscapes, and build more resilient food systems.

One key collaboration is with AgroImpact in Switzerland, and it exemplifies the power of public-private partnerships in scaling sustainable agriculture by uniting research, NGOs such as WWF, and industry to provide farmers with tangible support and incentives for carbon reduction. Nestlé's involvement, through financial investment and supply chain integration, demonstrates how corporate leadership can accelerate the adoption of practices across a broad agricultural sector.

In Europe, Nestlé has launched several projects working with farmers, cooperatives, and suppliers to implement regenerative agriculture practices in 13 countries. The fresh milk project launched in 2021 in Spain aimed to expand regenerative agriculture practices such as individualised fertilisation plans, reduced tillage and crop rotation.

In France, the Living Soils initiative (Sols Vivant) stands as another crucial example. This project promotes the widespread uptake of farming approaches and economic models aligned to regenerative agricultural practices, directly supporting soil health. Working with a diverse range of partners, including cooperatives, retailers, industry partners and academics, the initiative significantly expanded in 2024 to encompass 380 farmers and over 10 suppliers, collectively producing 120 000 tons of raw materials, primarily wheat, alongside corn, sugar beet and vegetables.

Regenerative agriculture represents a knowledge-intensive journey that requires continuous adaptation and learning. As science advances and new insights and innovations emerge, projects, initiatives, technologies, actions and metrics will evolve accordingly. Therefore, collaboration among industries, farmers, academia and policymakers is essential to enhance the resilience and sustainability of the European agri-food sector. By working together, we can foster a more sustainable future for agriculture that benefits both the environment and society.

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