RVO Thematic Day on Regenerative Agriculture

On 2 October, farmers, researchers, policymakers, and financiers came together at De Eemlandhoeve for the RVO Thematic Day on Regenerative Agriculture — a day filled with inspiration, real-life examples, and discussions on how to accelerate regenerative agriculture from vision to practice.

The day was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and Foodvalley. The day was hosted by our own Ileen Wilke, Community Manager Regenerative Agriculture at Foodvalley, who welcomed over 50 participants to this event.

The day opened with remarks by Martine Willems, Team Manager at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), within the International Entrepreneurship department. Drawing on her experience with the Rainforest Alliance and her work in certification and farmer support, Martine highlighted her passion for agricultural systems that strengthen soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience. She outlined how RVO aims to support international entrepreneurship in regenerative agriculture and foster collaboration across sectors.

Jan Huijgen, farmer and founder of De Eemlandhoeve, then welcomed participants to this unique location. Jan shared his vision for multifunctional farming, where nature, soil health, and community come together. Over the years, De Eemlandhoeve has become a place for farmers, citizens, and entrepreneurs to connect and learn from one another. He also spoke about the ambition to develop the Eemvallei into a 1,000-hectare “food campus” with 14 farms, supported by a regional food and landscape agreement.

Keynote

Loekie Schreefel, postdoctoral researcher with the Farming Systems Ecology group at Wageningen University & Research, provided the keynote. His research focuses on designing, monitoring, and modeling resilient agricultural and food systems, with special attention to regenerative approaches.

Schreefel outlined first the urgency in our current food system and how regenerative agriculture is defined, across science, even though there’s no consensus definition of regenerative agriculture. What is clear that the regeneration of soil is the heart of regenerative agriculture — improving the health and vitality of the soil as the foundation for a resilient food system. From this entry point, it aims to enhance: 

• Water quality and availability 

• Nutrient cycling 

• Biodiversity 

• Climate regulation 

• Human well-being 

• Economic prosperity 

In practice, this means applying farming methods that restore rather than deplete natural systems — such as: 

• Smart crop rotations 

• Minimizsing tillage 

• Avoiding pesticides and artificial fertilizers 

• Integrating legumes and other soil-enriching crops 

Schreefel also reviewed an international overview of regenerative agriculture actors — mapping 26 organisations across multiple countries: 

• 31% farmers (mostly small-scale) 

• 16% advisory and consultancy firms 

• 12% large processors (e.g. Unilever, Nestlé, Pepsico) 

• Others include NGOs (12%), suppliers (6%), research institutes (5%), financiers  (3%), and retailers (3%). 

One key observation: small-scale farmers show strong willingness to change, while large processors tend to set the vision. This raises a critical question — who defines what ’regenerative agriculture’ really means? Moreover, farmers were already familiair with Regen Ag before other actors became active in this field. A majority of the actors in the early years of the development of the regenerative field (2015 – 2020) were farmers. Schreefel highlights that the current participation of farmers is declining compared to other active organisations.

While the risk of greenwashing was noted, participants also observed growing alignment on desired outcomes and measures. Schreefel was optimistic about this consensus on what regenerative agriculture means across the different actors. Differences mostly appear in how results are quantified and which practices are considered truly regenerative. 

From his closing, three priorities emerged for the field of regenerative agriculture: 

1. Cross-sector collaboration – with stronger regional advisory networks. 

2. Better impact measurement – enabled by open and transparent data. 

3. (Pro)Active government support – to connect actors and fund innovation. 

Want to read more on Loekie Schreefel’s work? Find two of his articles below, the first one on regenerative initiatives in the Netherlands and the second one on analysing actors within the field of regenerative agriculture.

Schreefel & van Zanten. (2024). Dutch initiatives working on regenerative agriculture and their international ambitions.   

Schreefel et al. (2025). Beyond the buzz: analysing actors promoting regenerative agriculture in Europe. NPJ Sustainable Agriculture. 

Financing Regenerative Agriculture

The panel brought together a mix of perspectives on how financing and government support can help businesses go international:

Saske Hoving
Advisor for International Innovation at RVO, supports companies, research institutions, and NGOs in developing and financing EU-funded innovation projects. She serves as the Dutch contact point for the EU Soil Mission and Horizon Europe programmes, focusing on sustainable food, bioeconomy, and natural resources. She noted that regenerative is not so prominent in European projects yet, although the European Commission is currently working on integrating it further into its vision.

Hadewych de Groot van Embden
Investment Manager at Schevichoven  develops profitable, scalable regenerative business models for Dutch arable farmers. She is also involved in the collaboration between Commonland, Wire Group, and Ashoka to develop bioregional financing facilities for three regions in Europe aimed at ecosystem restoration.

With her experience deeply rooted in practice, she sees the need and pressure to integrate regenerative approaches – farmers see a decline in what they can still produce from their current soil.  

Mackenzie Masaki
Business Developer at Atradius Dutch State Business, focuses on insurance and guarantees for companies operating internationally. He noted that Atradius currently assesses primarily GHG emissions, raising the question: whether this could be expanded in the years to come?

The panel identified several key barriers for farmers transitioning to regenerative practices: 

• Limited knowledge and guidance (‘Where do I start?’) 

• Access to capital 

• Market demand for regenerative products 

• Space constraints and systemic pressure 

From healthy soils to a healthy society

The event highlighted that regenerative agriculture is gaining momentum — in research, policy, and practice. Farmers, investors, governments, and knowledge institutions are increasingly aligned around a shared ambition: to move beyond sustainability and actively restore ecosystems and communities.

This finding was explored further in the country sessions in the afternoon, where RVO and the Ministry provided sessions on Serbia, Turkey, Brazil and South Africa. If you want to know more about what RVO does abroad and how they can support you, visit RVO landenpagina’s or you can contact the regional advisors of RVO 

The challenge now lies in collaboration, scaling, and financing, while keeping focus on the shared goal.

Join the Movement

Want to help drive the regenerative agriculture transition? 
Not part of the Regen Ag Community yet? Become part of our Regenerative Agriculture Community where everyone has a role to play—whether you’re innovating, connecting, or scaling impact.

The community is part of The Regenerative Innovation Portfolio, a collaboration platform that brings together a wide array of actors within Europe to action the critical systemic shift we need to fix our broken food system. The Regenerative Innovation Portfolio is an ecosystem collaboration, established as a Food Innovation Hub Europe Initiative of the World Economic Forum, and delivered by EIT Food in collaboration with Foodvalley.
Read more here and reach out to us if you want to be part of our community.