Circular and Regenerative Agriculture

Backgrounder

Introduction 

Circular and regenerative agriculture is a farming system that applies nature-friendly practices to create a climate change resilient, self-sustaining ecosystem for food production. It utilizes farming practices that reduce soil disturbance, like minimal or no tillage and cover cropping. It also minimizes the use of chemical inputs, and integrates crop rotation, intercropping, agroforestry, livestock manure, mulching, and contour farming, to boost soil health and water retention. This farming system improves long term farm productivity while providing diverse diets to livestock.   

Why is this subject important to listeners?

Because farmers should know:

• The definition of circular and regenerative agriculture. 
• How to implement circular and regenerative agriculture practices on farms. 
• How circular and regenerative agriculture improves farming and crop yields.
• The various farming and livestock practices used in circular and regenerative agriculture.  
• How circular and regenerative agriculture practices reduce the effects of climate change.
• How circular and regenerative agriculture can increase a farmer’s income. 
• How to integrate circular and regenerative agriculture into their traditional farming. 
• The various crops that can grow under a circular and regenerative agriculture system.
• Roles and benefits of livestock in circular and regenerative agriculture.  

What are some key facts about circular and regenerative agriculture?

• Minimal or no tillage farming practices improve the soil structure and fertility.
• Minimal soil disturbance enables water to penetrate the soil thereby reducing soil erosion caused by heavy rains.  
• Planting trees with crops (agroforestry) provides shading, reduces wind erosion, improves soil structure, some trees are used as animal fodder and provides alternative income sources especially from fruit trees. 
• Planting legume trees with crops makes the soil fertile by fixing nitrogen into the soil.
• Regenerative agriculture includes practices like mulching, contour farming and rainwater harvesting that enable them to farm during the dry periods.   
• Pesticides’ use is limited or none, so bees can be kept in agroforestry systems for honey and pollination of the crops. 

     

What are the big challenges to circular and regenerative agriculture?

• Farmers lack the knowledge to implement circular and regenerative agricultural practices. 
• Inadequate extension services to reach farmers in Uganda with knowledge on circular and regenerative agricultural practices.
• There are cases where trees for agroforestry can compete with the primary crop or grasses for feeding livestock for space and water if poorly positioned. 
• Land tenure issues can limit farmers from engaging in some circular and regenerative practices more so if the farm is leased not owned. On leased land it might be impractical to plant trees for agroforestry. 
• These practices can require more labor and management skills than low-income, smallholder farmers can afford
• In Africa, available scientific literature on regenerative agriculture is limited to controlled trial environments. That makes it challenging to implement in different environments.
• Mythconception and perceptions people have towards Circular and regenerative agriculture.
•  Takes a lot of time to produce results once used as opposed to other methods.

For further information, see documents 1-9 and Farm Radio Research Materials

Gender aspects of circular and regenerative agriculture

• In the Mount Elgon region women cited land scarcity, inadequate tree seedlings, and limited technical knowledge as the reason they have not adopted agroforestry. 
• Adopting regenerative agriculture can help women smallholder farmers to ​​better adapt to climate change through practices that improve soil fertility, crop yields and biodiversity. 
• In Mukono, Bushenyi and Mubende districts, women groups have been trained to make cooking briquettes from maize and beans residues, and cassava flour. The briquettes as alternative energy sources minimize the cutting down of trees for charcoal, etc.     
• In Uganda, coffee is traditionally intercropped with vegetables and other legumes, providing alternative sources of income for women and youth.

For further information, see documents 3,4,5

Predicted impact of climate change on circular and regenerative agriculture

• In Uganda, unpredictable weather can cause droughts, floods and erratic rains that hinder the growth of cover crops and tree seedlings for agroforestry in regenerative agriculture. 
• New pests and diseases linked to climate change are making farming a challenge, leading farmers to rely heavily on toxic pesticides.
• Agroforestry system legume trees like calliandra or gliricidia absorb carbon from the atmosphere and help in climate mitigation. 
• Regenerative agriculture practices focus on soil health and biodiversity preservation while improving soil water retention and increasing farmers’ resilience to climate change.

For further information, see documents 8, 9,

Key information about circular and regenerative agriculture

Farm Evaluation

Before applying circular and regenerative agriculture practices farmers should:

• Do soil tests to determine soil health, type, structure, nutrient levels and determine their drainage and water retention capacity and reveal pests and diseases.
• Analyze their regions’ climate and microclimate patterns that will affect crops’ growth and soil health.  
• Assess the slope and topography of the land to determine erosion risks, water flows and suitable planting areas. 
• Evaluate the existing plant and animal life on their farm and their connections.
• Understand the farms’ current and previous historical use and management practices like crops grown, chemical inputs, tillage practices, plus pest and weed management. 
• Scout for skilled labour availability and markets for crops to be grown there. 
• Prepare short- and long-term goals for the farm like yields, biodiversity restoration, and regenerative practices to be applied.  

For further information, see documents 1

Circular and regenerative agriculture practices

Minimal soil disturbance

In circular and regenerative agriculture crops are planted on minimally or zero tilled soils. These practices improve soil structure, fertility, water infiltration, organic matter, carbon sequestration, soil bonding, preserves soil moisture, inputs and compost application, and controls erosion. Weeds and crop residues are managed through slashing or other non-chemical methods. Minimal or zero tillage is applied along with crop rotation, cover crops, and mulching to ensure minimal soil disturbance.

• Improved soil structure enhances water retention, reducing the impact of drought on crops
• Seeds are planted using jab planters that prick the ground and release seed and fertilizer.
• Small power tillers are used to dig zai pits and planting basins. 
• Soil water evaporation is minimized by practices like mulching and agroforestry. 

Cropping Systems

Cropping systems in regenerative agriculture improve soil health, and ensure long term crop yields and food security. These cropping systems enhance the ecosystem by combining various agricultural systems. These include: 

Intercropping: This is growing two or more crops on the same field at the same time and these can include cover crops. When growing these crops farmers should ensure:

• Shallow rooted crops are intercropped with deep rooted ones.
• Intercrop plants with similar water needs.
• To avoid intercrops from the same family to minimize pest infestations. 
• They intercrop legumes and non legumes as it adds nutrients like nitrogen in the soil.
• They plant crop varieties that do not compete for sunlight. 
• They intercrop tall growing with wide growing crop varieties.
• They intercrop slow growing and fast-growing crops. That way, when fast growing crops are harvested, the slower ones will have space to mature. 

Intercropping benefits:

• Intercropping improves crop yields.
• High value crops, when intercropped, increase farmers’ farming incomes. 
• Studies show that intercropping reduces diseases, pests’ and weeds’ incidences thereby minimizing the need for agrochemicals. This is common when trap plants are used.  

Cover Crops: Farmers plant mostly legumes like beans, pigeon peas, cowpeas, and peanuts as soil cover crops, between rows of maize, banana, coffee or fruit trees. Still grasses, sweet potato, watermelons, pumpkins can be cover crops.  When planting cover crops farmers should:

• Plant them immediately after tillage, or at the same time as the main crop.
• They are planted when the soil is bare and no main crop is growing.  

Cover crops benefits:

• They maintain the right temperature that benefits useful soil organisms.
• They cover and improve soil structure after the main crops are harvested.
• Protecting the soil from erosion and reducing the water evaporation rate. 
• Legumes fix beneficial nitrogen nutrients into the soil and boost the organic matter.
• They suppress the growth of weeds.
• Provide an alternative food and income source for farmers apart from the main crop.    

Crop Rotation: Farmers alternate growing different crop varieties every season or year, on the same land. This breaks pests and diseases cycles, improves nutrient cycling, and also boosts soil fertility, and crop yields. It also helps reduce pests, when non-host crops are alternately grown that regular pests do not eat. This is an integrated pest and disease management (IPDM) practice.  

Strip Cropping or Interplanting: This is interplanting various plant families on uniform strips of land. For example, groundnuts can be planted together with hibiscus or roselle. The crop strips are changed every season. In strip cropping farmers should:

• Not plant the same family crops as that can increase infestations e.g., cabbages and broccoli, or tomatoes and potatoes. 
• Practice crop rotation of different field strips with crops. 

Strip cropping benefits:

• Improves soil fertility and suppresses the growth of weeds.
• Disrupting pests’ movement and lifecycles. 
• Pests and diseases spread slower if rows of different crop varieties separate host plants. 
• The different crops grown prevent the build up of soil diseases. 

For further information, see documents 1-10, and Farm Radio Research Materials

Agroforestry

In agroforestry crops are grown together with trees or along the boundaries. Legume trees like acacia, gliricidia, faidherbia, calliandra, and fruit trees like pawpaw and grevillea are mostly used in agroforestry farming systems. Agroforestry trees planted should:

• Be planted from 10 to 20 meters from one row to another. 
• Be adapted to the local climate and soils. 
• Not host pests and diseases.
• Be fast maturing, deeply rooted, long lasting, and wind resistant. 
• Provide sufficient shading canopy with little gaps and moderate leaf density.  
• Be able to withstand intensive pruning needed to provide organic mulching and sunlight to the other crops. 

Agroforestry benefits:

• Trees shade the crops, and shed leaves mulch and boosts soil fertility. 
• Legume and grevillea trees provide fodder for livestock.
• Legume trees fix nitrogen in soils and their shed leaves improve soil fertility.  
• Bees can be reared to pollinate trees and crops on the same land while providing honey.
• Tree roots bind the soil and that reduces soil erosion by water or wind.
• Trees protect growing crops like maize from strong winds that can break them. 
• Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• The shade from trees minimizes soil moisture evaporation.  

For further information, see documents 1, 7,8, 9,

Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM)

IPDM is a pest management practice that prevents or reduces pests and diseases through natural methods and limited synthetic pesticides use. It reduces humans and the environment exposure to synthetic pesticides toxins. IPDM has some practices to address pests and diseases like:

Seed Selection: Planting certified and treated seedlings, seeds or cultivars reduces pests and diseases incidences, after they are planted and minimize yield losses.   

Trap Plants: This is planting particular plants that attract certain pests, and diseases causing organisms and controlling them with agro-chemicals or manually. In maize farming trap plants control striga weed and stem borers. The maize is intercropped with legumes like silverleaf desmodium which repels, or deters stemborers from maize the main crop. Then napier grass planted on farm edges of the intercrops, attracts and traps pests like stemborers which protects the maize. The silverleaf desmodium stimulates the germination of striga weeds but chokes their growth, and reduces its seed bank on the soil. Napier and silverleaf desmodium provide livestock fodder and improve soil health and moisture. This is called the push pull technology.   

Pests and Disease Control: IPDM prioritizes pest and disease control using biopesticides that are not toxic to humans and the environment. The biopesticides are extracted from neem tree, pyrethrum, chilli, tobacco, garlic, ocimum suave, Mexican marigold, and fish bean (tephrosia vogelli), all found in Uganda. Pests like mites, the army worms, weevils, cutworms, stalk borers, white flies and aphids can be controlled this way. Pests and diseases resident in the soil can be eliminated by heating the soil for 30 minutes over a fire using metallic containers.

Other IPDM practices    

• Removing diseased plants and pests’ eggs and larvae by hand. 

• Hanging traps that attract and trap crop pests.
• Raking exposes some pests in the soil like worms to predators like birds.

Effective pest control requires regular monitoring of the garden to assess the level of infestation. Farmers are encouraged to survey their fields frequently to detect early signs of pests and to apply appropriate control measures based on the severity of the infestation.

For further information, see documents 2 and Farm Radio research materials

Livestock Rearing

Besides milk and meat, livestock provide manure. The animals are zero grazed or rotationally grazed by moving them to different pastures. Some benefits of livestock rearing in circular and regenerative agriculture are:

• They provide manure for crops and pastures and improves soil fertility.
• Crop residues, coffee pulp and cow dung can be mixed to produce biogas for cooking thereby reducing farmers’ reliance on wood fuel from trees.
• After crops are harvested, poultry can be released to improve soil fertility with their manure droppings, and eat weeds and pests there. 

For further information, see documents 1, 

Definitions

Where can I find other resources on this topic?

Documents

1. 1. Kabiri Stella, (2024). Basket of Regenerative Agriculture Technologies for the Improvement of Soil Health in Africa. 50 Technologies For On-farm Demonstrations. https://www.saa-safe.org/elfiles/xc85X4Fu/Size%20adjusted_FIN%20-%20web%20compressed%20-%20Basket%20of%20RA%20Tech%202024.pdf (5.83 MB). 
   2. Biovision Africa Trust, (Undated). Plant Extracts in Organic Farming. https://eoai-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BioVision-Plant-Extracts-Poster.pdf (1.13 MB).
   3. Aggrey Ntakimanye, Charles Galabuzi, Phiona Kwaga, Geoffrey Werikhe, Immaculate Sekitto, Ivan Wanambwa, Geofrey Kimenya, Hillary Agaba, Catherine Muthuri (2019). Factors Affecting Adoption of Agroforestry Technologies by Women and Young Farmers in the Mt. Elgon Region, Eastern Uganda. https://www.cifor-icraf.org/publications/downloads/Publications/PDFS/RP19107.pdf (1.37 MB). Gender
   4. Athina Koutouleas, Boaz Waswa, Walter Ocimati, An Notenbaert, Eric Rahn, (2023). Regenerative agriculture in coffee farming systems: A handbook for practitioners in Uganda. https://ugandacoffee.go.ug/sites/default/files/2024-01/Coffee%20Reg%20Ag%20Handbook%20Uganda%20Final.pdf (26.1 MB). Gender
   5. Robert Muzira, Joweria Nambooze, (2024). Improving climate resilience in the Ugandan food system. https://foresight4food.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/FoSTr-Policy-Paper-Climate-Resilience-Uganda.pdf  (1.4 MB). 
   6. Business Fights Poverty, (2023). Women smallholders in regenerative agriculture. https://businessfightspoverty.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Day-1-Fireside-Chat-Regenerative-Agriculture-for-Climate-Justice.pdf  (970 KB).
   7. CIFOR-ICRAF, (Undated). Managing the Agroforestry System. https://www.cifor-icraf.org/publications/sea/Publications/files/manual/MN0054-13/MN0054-13-2.pdf (1.85 MB). 
   8. Vincent Rabach, James Koske, Monicah Mucheru Muna, Jonathan Muriuki, Innocent Osoro Ngare, (2020). Carbon Sequestration In Agroforestry Systems Between Conservation Agriculture And Conventional Practice In The ASAL Area Of Machakos County, Kenya. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/20203478832 (970KB). 
   9. Wilkson Makumba, Festus K. Akinnifesi, Bert Janssen, Oene Oenema (2006). Long-term impact of a gliricidia-maize intercropping system on carbon sequestration in southern Malawi. https://www.cifor-icraf.org/publications/downloads/Publications/PDFS/ja06162.pdf (481 KB).