Regenerative agriculture: a climate solution for Southern Europe

Climate change is reshaping the future of European agriculture. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Mediterranean and southern regions of the EU, where farmers face escalating threats to food production and security due to soil degradation, water scarcity, and extreme weather events. Yet, amidst these challenges, Southern Europe is becoming a testbed for regenerative agriculture - and the lessons learned here could shape the future of food systems across the continent.

The Mediterranean region is warming 20% faster than the global average, putting tremendous stress on soil health, biodiversity, and agricultural productivity. According to the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, around 60-70% of soils across the EU are currently degraded, with Southern Europe particularly vulnerable to erosion, drought, seawater intrusion, and desertification.

Economic and social pressures further compound the problem. Farmers in Southern Europe typically face lower profit margins than their northern counterparts. Combined with climate-driven yield losses - projected to reach 50% and more for key crops like wheat and maize by 2050 - the economic viability of farming in the region is under serious threat.

At the same time, agriculture is both a victim and a contributor to climate change. It represents about 12% of total EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, driven by practices such as deforestation, monocultures, and intensive livestock farming. But it also holds tremendous potential for mitigation through improved land and soil conservation management.

Despite the scale of the challenge, Southern Europe is home to pioneering projects that are transforming adversity into innovation. Regenerative agriculture - an approach focused on restoring soil health, increasing biodiversity, and capturing carbon - is proving to be both a climate and economic solution.

The LILAS4SOILS project is a great example of how change is taking root. Led by EIT Food South, the initiative brings together farmers, researchers, agrifood companies, and regional authorities from eight countries - Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Israel, Germany and Belgium to work collaboratively on climate-friendly farming solutions. This is being done through five regional Living Labs, open innovation ecosystems and real-word testing environments where new farming practices are co-developed and tested with the people who use them.

LILA4SOILS is using more than 100 demonstration sites, of which 85 are real farms, to understand the real challenges and solutions that a complex environment presents for sustainable soil management. This includes testing and promoting carbon farming, a set of agricultural methods that help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in soil. These efforts are helping to gather evidence on how much carbon the soil can hold (a process known as carbon sequestration) and whether farmers could one day earn carbon credits as a reward for adopting sustainable practices. To support trust and transparency in this emerging field, the project is also developing a standardised system for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV), which will help track the environmental impact of these practices accurately and consistently.

In Northern Italy’s Po Valley, one of the project’s key Living Labs, regenerative techniques like cover cropping, crop rotation, reduced tillage, and better manure management are being put to the test on a large scale. These methods are not only helping to boost soil carbon and cut emissions, but also improving water retention, biodiversity, and overall farm resilience.

This specific Living Lab is known as SHARE Innovation Lab (Soil Health and Regenerative Agriculture) and dates back about a decade, when local networks began forming through Operational Groups - EU-supported partnerships between farmers, researchers, and agribusinesses. These groups helped lay the groundwork for today’s SHARE, creating strong ecosystems that connect farmers with universities, cooperatives, industries, and policymakers. Now formalised through LILAS4SOILS, Italy’s model shows what’s possible when collaboration is put at the heart of innovation.

While Northern Italy has a long track record, other countries are just getting started. Israel has recently set up its very first Living Lab. Spain now has around eight, and Portugal is still in the early stages of building its network.

One of the farmers helping to drive this movement is Tiago Lourenço, based in Idanha-a-Velha Portugal. Lourenço sees regenerative agriculture as a way to not only restore the land but also build lasting rural economies. His 180-hectare farm, in central-eastern Portugal, operates a mixed system of olive groves and sheep grazing, a model of agroecological integration. This type of mixed system, which doesn’t separate crops and livestock production, mimics natural ecosystems, helping to improve nutrient cycling, enhancing soil health and preventing soil erosion.

Lourenço highlights the wider potential of projects like LILAS4SOILS: “Our expectations are to build networks, exchange knowledge, and create solutions that can be scaled up… and also to generate information that can support other farmers who want to transition and try our techniques. We want to serve as a reference model.”

He views carbon farming as just one part of a broader regenerative philosophy: “We’ve been applying these practices for about nine years - they go far beyond carbon farming, contributing to biodiversity and water retention. Carbon farming is just one element.”

His next steps? Expanding regenerative grazing and implementing living fences to boost biodiversity within his olive groves.

Within this ecosystem, EIT Food plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between policymakers, researchers, companies, and farmers, particularly in the context of regenerative agriculture. With its extensive network and deep expertise, EIT Food excels in facilitating communication across different sectors, ensuring that all voices are heard and integrated into the decision-making process.

As the organisation strengthens its activities in regenerative agriculture, it is actively building networks of farmers to enhance collaboration and ensure that solutions are grounded in real-world agricultural practices. By bringing together diverse stakeholders – including farmers, research institutes, tech innovators and retailers – EIT Food helps to bridge various "languages" and perspectives. The aim is to drive transformative change in the agricultural sector

This open communication allows for a more tailored approach - if a farmer has already tried a technique and seen suboptimal results, EIT Food works with them to adjust and refine their methods. The dialogue is central to developing solutions.

As the project progresses, there will be workshops where farmers can discuss the outcomes of their experiments and innovations. The goal is to continuously learn, adjust, and implement better practices based on real-world feedback.

This participatory model is key in ensuring that the solutions are not only effective but also embraced by the farming community. Most of the farmers involved have shared that what matters most to them is making sure any methods used fit their local conditions – since soil and climate can vary so much from place to place. Many are also asking to have a real say in shaping the policies that affect their farms. Above all, they want to be able to make informed decisions and judge carbon schemes for themselves.

Scaling regenerative agriculture, however, requires more than technical solutions. It needs cultural shifts, policy support, financial incentives, and knowledge-sharing networks. Financial barriers continue to be significant, as many farmers in southern Europe face tight margins, making it difficult to invest in practices that may take years to yield returns, such as transitioning to organic or agroforestry systems. Even with existing subsidies, the financial gap is substantial.

At the same time, regulatory and institutional challenges persist, with outdated policies and weak enforcement of sustainable practices. Environmental constraints, such as water scarcity and soil fertility issues, further complicate the adoption of regenerative methods. These hurdles require tailored financial mechanisms, policy reform, and stronger environmental regulations to support long-term shifts toward sustainability. This is exactly where Living Labs come into their own.

Another great initiative is Navarra 360º, in Northern Spain, which is taking a holistic, landscape-scale approach. As part of EIT Food's Regenerative Innovation Portfolio developed together with Foodvalley, Navarra 360º aims to support 80 farmers in transitioning to regenerative agriculture practices within their crop rotation systems, focusing on wheat, barley, oats, rapeseed, and sunflower. Participating farmers receive individualised support from agronomy experts to design and implement three-year transition plans, including financial incentives.

The Navarra 360º initiative emphasises practices like reduced use of phytosanitary products, decreased mineral fertilisation, ultimately improving soil health, biodiversity, and water use. Key partners include Cargill, the Government of Navarra, and local organisations such as the Navarra Institute of Food Technologies and Infrastructures (INTIA). By integrating financial support, technical training, and participatory innovation, Navarra360º ensures that solutions are rooted in local realities - a crucial factor for the success of regenerative agriculture.

While the Southern Mediterranean region is currently bearing the brunt of climate change, its experiences are early signals of what other European regions may increasingly face. Crucially, though, climate impacts will differ across regions: northern Europe, for instance, is more likely to contend with water excess and soil waterlogging than drought. This underlines the importance of place-based approaches. Each project within the Regenerative Innovation Portfolio is grounded in its specific agroecological and socio-economic context, recognising that regenerative agriculture must be tailored, not transplanted. At the same time, the Portfolio facilitates “inter-landscape learning,” enabling regions to share not only agronomic practices but also insights into market development, stakeholder engagement, and partnerships with the industry.

Regenerative agriculture is not a silver bullet, but it is a powerful strategy for addressing the intertwined crises of climate change, soil degradation, and food insecurity. Southern Europe is leading the way - and with initiatives like LILAS4SOILS and Navarra360º, it is offering lessons that can inform context-sensitive transitions elsewhere in Europe.