Although food systems sit at the center of intersecting climate, biodiversity, and poverty crises, only a tiny sliver of climate finance reaches the farmers who must engage in food systems transformation to change how food is produced if the world is to feed a growing population without destroying the planet.

Regenerative agriculture and nature-based solutions are attracting growing attention in food systems transformation work: An estimated $14 billion in private investment went to nature last year, and the regenerative agriculture market is projected to reach nearly $50 billion by 2033.

But progress on mobilizing investment for regenerative food systems remains “fragmented and chronically under-resourced,” according to Zak Bleicher, global coordinator of the Agrifood Systems Accelerator.

And investment doesn’t always translate into what’s needed on the ground. Agrifood systems get between 3% and 7% of global climate finance despite their outsized role in greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and livelihoods.

This gap between ambition and investment was at the center of a recent panel discussion hosted by the Geneva-based Building Bridges Foundation. Experts stressed that the tools for transformation already exist, but supply chains and capital flows must be reconfigured to align with longer-term resilience.

“I don’t think 20th-century financial instruments are designed for 21st-century regenerative food systems transformation,” said John Mundy, director of global partnerships, climate finance, and technology at the One Acre Fund, an international nonprofit. “We need much more patient, farmers-first design capital to be able to make this transition work.”

Driving Food Systems Transformation: A System That ‘Heals Rather Than Harms’

Food systems depend on healthy soil, water, and ecosystems — making them increasingly vulnerable as climate change intensifies, said Saswati Bora, global director for regenerative food systems at The Nature Conservancy.

Agriculture drives a third of emissions and 70% of freshwater withdrawals while being a leading cause of biodiversity loss and land degradation. Meanwhile, climate change has already reduced agricultural productivity by an estimated 21% relative to a no-warming scenario, Bora said.

Read the full article about driving finance to regenerative agriculture by Tania Karas at Devex.