Scaling the paradigm of food system regeneration from Latin America

Abstract

The Avina Foundation and the NAR Consortium, a network bringing together academic, impact investment and innovation entities across Latin America, are advancing a policy and institutional innovation to scale regenerative food system transitions across Latin America, targeting Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Building on four years of collaboration with universities, investors, and innovators to develop a Latin American framework for regenerative food systems that integrates socioeconomic and environmental dimensions, the initiative moves from theory to implementation by creating shared frameworks for data, finance, and governance. It deploys a set of practical tools, territorial transition plans, blended-finance mechanisms, and regenerative bioinput solutions that are ready to be adapted and scaled across diverse bioregional contexts.

Partners

Scaling partners

Fundación Avina, CATIE- NESsT, SVX Mexico

Innovation partners

Ikatu Ventures, WTT, SVX Colombia, GRADE, Colombia Regenerativa

Demand partners

National Ministries of Agriculture and Environmentm, local governments, cooperatives, producer associations and global companies linked to supply chains

Financing

USD 12 million (2025–2030)

Challenge

Regenerative food systems represent one of the most promising pathways to strengthening the communities most vulnerable to climate change. Yet, regenerative food system transitions across Latin America, Africa and Asia face persistent knowledge and technology gaps, a lack of long-term, coordinated initiatives at the landscape or bioregional level, weakly connected value chains, and fragmented decision-making. In Latin America, one of the regions most vulnerable to climate impacts yet rich in cultural and ecological resources, these barriers are particularly acute, underscoring the need for co-constructed regenerative strategies to deliver equitable, climate-just, and resilient food systems.

Solution

The NAR Consortium advances the regenerative transition of food systems by filling critical knowledge gaps with robust, systematised evidence and mobilising multiple sectors, from production and value chains to policy, to act as living examples that can be replicated across Latin America. The initiative works through four pillars:

• Knowledge Management consolidates and applies studies on regenerative businesses to provide clear evidence on profitability, competitiveness, yields, costs, and environmental performance, demonstrating to producers, investors, and policymakers the long-term viability of regenerative practices.
• Ecosystem Strengthening translates this evidence into advocacy, policy dialogue, consumer awareness and market alignment, tackling barriers such as subsidies that favour extractive models and promoting incentives for regenerative production.
• Investment expands blended finance mechanisms, with a gender lens, for social enterprises, cooperatives, NGOs, and SMEs, through a Regenerative Transition Fund in five countries to support producers’ shift from extractive to regenerative systems.
• Entrepreneurship and Regenerative Technology accelerate the adoption of sustainable, non-synthetic agricultural inputs, identifying and scaling short-term, market-ready solutions.

Together, these pillars, which will engage local and regional stakeholders, create a coherent, evidence-driven architecture that integrates finance, policy, and innovation, enabling regenerative transitions to scale sustainably across Latin America.

Impact

The NAR Consortium has demonstrated that regenerative food systems can deliver tangible environmental, social, and economic benefits through flagship initiatives across Latin America.

Success stories

AFIMAD – Indigenous Forest Enterprise (Peru):
AFIMAD unites 12 native communities representing nine Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon. The association blends traditional forest wisdom with regenerative business models for sustainable livelihoods.

• Promotes sustainable harvesting, processing, and marketing of Amazonian nuts, cacao, and palm products.
• Established the first all-women Indigenous board in the region, strengthening inclusive leadership.
• Enabled sustainable Huicungo palm production, officially certified under a Management Declaration (DEMA), led by women’s committees in five communities.
• Achieved 30 hectares reforested and 20 hectares restored with native tree species.
• Diversified income through sustainable fishing, handicrafts, and agroforestry, reinforcing forest conservation and community resilience.

Wiñak – Chakra Model (Ecuador)
The Chakra system, developed by the Indigenous Kichwa community and supported by the Wiñak Association in Napo Valley, integrates ancestral agroforestry practices with modern market access.

• Maintained 7,791 hectares of Amazonian forest under high conservation status with zero deforestation.
• Engaged 263 members and 700–800 producers across 36 communities, with ~60% women in leadership and seed preservation roles.
• Generated USD $900,000 in annual sales, exporting aroma cacao, guayusa, and plantain to Switzerland, Japan, India, and the US.
• Operated 23 permanent and 80–90 seasonal jobs, improving local livelihoods while safeguarding biodiversity.
• Verified improvements in soil and water health, guided by organic and fair-trade certifications, and established the “Sello Chakra” as a local sustainability label.

Scaling plan

The NAR Consortium will scale regenerative food system transitions across Latin America through an evidence-based, multi-actor approach.

• 2025–2026: Expand mapping of regenerative food businesses and complete bioregional diagnostics in key countries.
• 2026–2027: Launch pilot bioregional fund and training platforms; support new regenerative enterprises with a gender lens; host the Latin America Regenerative Investment summits.
• 2027–2028: Design and test financial and policy instruments, including the Regenerative Transition Regional Fund to embed regenerative incentives in markets and governance.
• Beyond 2028: Scale proven models through national policies and local–regional regenerative markets.

Enablers

Strong academic, financial, and community partnerships; alignment with national climate and biodiversity agendas; and ongoing support from allied philanthropic and investment partners.

Contact

Pablo Vagliente, Director, Ikatu Ventures, Fundación Avina | pablo.vagliente@avina.net | +549 351 3617883