Foodprints for the Future
7 Clever Ways Farming is Advancing Rural Development
July 6, 2025
Today is the world’s first-ever World Rural Development Day, as declared by the United Nations– in global recognition of the essential contribution rural communities make to their nation’s well-being, food security, and environmental health. Rural development is often overlooked, yet plays a vital role in shaping the economic, social, and environmental viability of countries.
Regenerative agriculture is emerging as a key solution in this transformation. This farming practice helps capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and works to reverse the environmental damage caused by industrial farming. It goes beyond sustainable agriculture by actively restoring ecosystems so that they can naturally grow food.
Here’s seven ways that regenerative agriculture is supporting rural development:
1. Boosting Soil Health for Long-Term Sustainability
A defining characteristic of regenerative agriculture is that it avoids the use of harmful pesticides or fertilizers. Regenerative agriculture works with the environment, rather than against it, so instead of using synthetic chemicals, farmers rely on natural and organic substances. This practice keeps the soil happy and healthy, allowing insects, bacteria, and other microorganisms to thrive in a balanced ecosystem.
As a result, soil biodiversity improves— both the variety of organisms living in the soil and its microbial function— which is especially important given that nearly 70% of the world’s soil is currently degraded.
By restoring soil health farmers are able to grow more nutritious crops, help reverse environmental damage, and reduce the impact of climate change.
2. Good Farming = Doubling Profits!
The majority of farmers are reluctant to implement regenerative practices because they are perceived as less profitable. This is far from the truth. Research on wheat farmers suggests that regenerative agriculture can increase profitability up to 120%— plus farmers begin to notice benefits to their soil and crop quality within the very first growing season.
This rise in profitability stems from a few key factors. Most importantly, farmers no longer bear the high costs of fertilizers, which account for up to 36% of their total expenses. In addition, regenerative farming opens diverse revenue streams, such as grazing livestock and selling organic or direct-to-consumer products. Often organic food is worth more too, so farmers can charge more for their crops and produce.
3. Counters Drought and Flood Vulnerability
Research suggests that regenerative agriculture can increase the productivity of crops in extreme weather conditions, like droughts. This is because the organic soil matter acts like a sponge, absorbing and retaining more rainwater than less organic rich soils, thus providing a buffer in dry periods.
Flood risk is also reduced as regenerative practices such as composting, crop rotation, and agroforestry, the process of incorporating trees and shrubs into farmland, prevent erosion and boost water retention. As a result, farms become more productive while also reducing the amount of surface water flowing into nearby waterways— this provides natural flood protection!
4. Offers Diverse Ecosystem Services
Regenerative agriculture offers a wide array of ‘ecosystem services’— these are the benefits all of us receive from the natural environment. First off, regenerative farming enriches and increases organic matter in the soil, making it more fertile and highly effective at carbon sequestration. It’s a positive cycle— better soil captures more carbon and more carbon improves the soil!
Another powerful benefit is that regenerative techniques can enhance local biodiversity. Regenerative farms often feature a variety of crops, together or in rotation, attracting a range of insects, birds, and other wildlife. Techniques like buffer strips, hedgerows, and prairie strips recreate pollinator-friendly habitats. Regenerative practices also promote no-till farming and cover cropping which reduce runoff, again protecting pollinators. Plus these areas offer safe spaces for nesting, foraging, and overwintering birds and animals. This helps to produce rich, diverse landscapes which are more resistant to pests and disease, giving rise to an even healthier ecosystem.
Regenerative farming is about rebuilding ecological networks. By mimicking nature, farmers create landscapes where pollinators can thrive, and in turn, these pollinators help improve crop yields and overall biodiversity.
5. Bringing Jobs Back to the Land
Regenerative agriculture is not only restoring the land, it’s also expanding the job market in rural areas. By shifting away from heavy machinery and towards regenerative hands-on practices, farmers learn new skills and better techniques for soil management, cover cropping, and rotational grazing. This increase in manual labor opens up job opportunities all over the world.
In Africa alone, it has been predicted that by 2030, one million full-time jobs will be created this way.
Beyond the farming itself, regenerative agriculture also opens up jobs in food processing, local distribution, agriscience, and community-supported agriculture, a direct-to-consumer model which connects farmers to their local communities. As a result, rural areas’ economies improve and the livelihoods of their people become more secure, diverse, and resilient.
6. Empowering Women and Marginalized Farmers
Regenerative agriculture’s emphasis on community, knowledge sharing, and small-scale operations creates entry-points for women, Indigenous people, and other marginalized growers. Involving and empowering women as part of the transition towards regenerative agriculture is critical— they contribute 43% to the agricultural industry and produce up to 80% of food in developing countries. Their role not only sustains communities, but also strengthens local economies and ensures a sustainable, inclusive food system.
For marginalized communities and Indigenous people, agriculture is often tied to a long history of oppression and systemic exclusion. However many regenerative principles— like working with the land, agroforestry, and permaculture— are deeply rooted in traditional practices. So by recognizing this and involving marginalized groups in modern regenerative agriculture, both the people and land can benefit.
7. Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide
For as long as cities have existed, the rural-urban divide has had a strong impact on the economic, social, and political dynamics within and across national borders. Regenerative agriculture has the power to connect people in cities with the land, labor, and communities that feed them.
Through systems such as community-supported agriculture and urban farming, regenerative agriculture can shorten supply chains and foster connections between people living in rural and urban areas. As shopping local and organic becomes increasingly popular, these systems make sustainable choices more accessible while also improving our food system.
On this inaugural World Rural Development, EARTHDAY.ORG celebrates the vital importance of regenerative agriculture in revitalizing rural communities. To learn more, explore our interactive quiz or watch this informative video on regenerative practices.
Together, we can regenerate both the land and rural communities around the world.
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