About the Regen10 Outcomes Framework

The global agrifood system sits at the centre of today’s interconnected crises. It both contributes to and is held back by systemic challenges, including geopolitical tensions and conflict, economic crises, water insecurity, accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss, land and ecosystem degradation, pollution, food insecurity, and growing income inequality (FAO, 2024). These pressures underscore the urgent need for actors to work together to transition towards solutions that address root causes and deliver durable, system-wide outcomes.

Regenerative agriculture, enabled by a wider regenerative agrifood system, can help us respond to and overcome these crises.  When regenerative approaches are grounded in culturally appropriate and locally adapted practices and enabled by sound governance, market, and financial conditions, they can rebuild soil, protect water, support biodiversity, strengthen livelihoods, and produce nutritious food (Loring, 2022).

Crucially, regenerative approaches are not about reaching a fixed endpoint. Regeneration is a process of continuous renewal. As soils recover, biodiversity increases, and communities strengthen, positive feedback loops emerge that build ecological health, economic resilience, good governance, and social well-being over time. With sustained care and enabling conditions, these systems become more self-reinforcing and capable of adapting to shocks and stresses.

To achieve these outcomes, actors across the entire system need to collaborate urgently. Progress depends on scaling regenerative agrifood systems.

Interest in regenerative agriculture and landscape scale transitions has surged in recent years. However, there is still lack of consensus on what constitutes regenerative agriculture and regenerative agrifood systems, slowing down its ability to reach its potential. The scale of this potential must be unlocked. In a world where nearly 2.3  billion people face food insecurity (SOFI, 2025), the alignment of ecological integrity, economic viability, and food security across agrifood systems is not only strategic, but essential. 

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework responds to this opportunity by offering a shared reference that focuses on outcomes. The Framework supports coordination, accountability, and adaptive management without imposing uniformity. It creates a shared direction for uniting diverse actors and approaches across scales and dimensions, enabling lasting, transformational change of agrifood systems. 

What is the Regen10 Outcomes Framework? 

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework offers a holistic view of regenerative agrifood systems, defining the full scope of regenerative outcomes across  ecological, social, economic, and governance dimensions, and  across farm and landscape scales. Rather than being a certification, assessment  methodology, or compliance tool, it serves two core use cases:

  • Creating a shared vision and understanding: It provides a common reference point for what regenerative agriculture and regenerative agrifood systems means across diverse actors, enabling alignment without prescribing uniform approaches.  
  • Supporting legitimacy in tools and claims: It acts as a shared credibility reference for standards, assessments, and claims, enabling actors to evaluate alignment and completeness over time against a common outcome structure.  

  

At its heart, the Outcomes Framework recognizes farmers, farm workers, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and other land stewards as rights-holders and essential stewards of biocultural landscapes.  Their traditional knowledge systems and governance practices are critical for interpreting, prioritizing, and contextualizing outcomes. The Framework also acknowledges the essential role of farm workers, whose labor, skills, and working conditions are integral to social sustainability and equitable value creation.   

 

The Outcomes Framework  reflects several distinct attributes:  

 

First, it is centered on an outcome-based approach. It does not dictate ‘how to farm’ and instead, describes what success looks like when regenerative agriculture is working (e.g., healthy soils, improved ecosystem integrity,  food security, and resilient livelihoods). By focusing on outcomes rather than practices, the Framework recognizes that the context in which farmers produce food, fuel and fiber differs across the world, and enables them to apply context-appropriate strategies while remaining accountable to shared expectations of what regeneration should achieve. This approach complements and can be paired with practice-based frameworks. It is designed to support alignment and interoperability across actors and tools, without imposing a single pathway.  

 

Secondly, the Outcomes Framework takes a systems perspective,  recognizing the two-way dependency between farm and landscape levels. Regenerative landscape-level outcomes provide the necessary enabling conditions for regenerative  farm-level outcomes, while cumulative farm-level outcomes shape the health and resilience of landscapes. This reflects ecological reality: soil functions, hydrological flows, biodiversity dynamics, and climate processes operate across farm boundaries and require coordination at landscape scale.  

  • Farm-level outcomes describe what regenerative farms look like as well as connecting them to the broader systems in which they operate.  
  • Landscape-level outcomes describe what regenerative landscapes look like, and bridge interactions at sub-national, national, and global scales. 
  • Across both levels, twelve interconnected dimensions span air and climate, biodiversity, soil, water, livestock, crops and pasture, community, farmers and workers, governance, economics and finance, agricultural inputs, and infrastructure. 
  • While agriculture operates within wider agrifood systems, the Framework focuses on agricultural production landscapes and the ecological, social, economic, and governance conditions that enable regeneration within them.  

 

Finally, the  Framework also includes illustrative indicators to support its implementation. These indicative and non-exhaustive indicators can be used to provide a snapshot of the system at a point in time, and, most importantly, used repeatedly to assess long-term progress. Indicator selection and measurement methodologies should be tailored to the setting, governed by stakeholders, and proportionate to available data, data collection systems, and resources. 

‍

How was the Framework developed?

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework is the product of a long-term, collaborative process, involving many committed organizations and partners.   

Its development was led by Regen10 partners, beginning with a review of over 150 existing frameworks that identified the Global Farm Metric, developed by Sustainable Food Trust, as the most holistic and outcome-based farm-level starting point. From there, the Framework was built outward through farm trials, expert review, landscape partners, and multiple cross-sectoral consultation cycles across regions.   

This was not a process where consensus was pre-existing – it was deliberately built. The Framework reflects what emerged: a negotiated, multi-perspective articulation of what regenerative agrifood systems should deliver, grounded in the priorities of diverse actors, rather than a single sector’s. 

‍

Who is The Regen10 Outcomes  Framework  for?   

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework serves a diverse range of actors involved in accelerating regenerative agriculture and regenerative agrifood systems, each with distinct roles, responsibilities, and levels of influence in enabling farm- and landscape-level regeneration.  

 

Farmers and land stewards are invited to use the Regen10 Outcomes Framework to identify what regenerative outcomes look like, informing on-farm decisions, and engage more confidently with value chain partners, buyers, investors, and programs. In practice, most farmers will engage with the Framework through intermediaries – extension workers, farmer organizations, buyers, and programs – who translate outcomes into actionable, context-specific guidance and assessments. The Outcomes Framework can also help farmers make the added value of regenerative agriculture visible across the value chain, supporting recognition of their efforts and more effective price negotiation. In doing so, it helps them articulate what they need from the systems around them - fair markets, secure tenure, and accessible finance - to make farm-level regeneration viable and doable.  

 

Landscape partnerships and coalitions are invited to use the Regen10 Outcomes Framework to align diverse stakeholders around shared outcomes, prioritize actions, navigate trade-offs across ecological, social, and economic objectives, and design transition strategies that address both farm-level practices and system-level conditions. In 2026, Regen10 is testing this directly in Kenya and Brazil - applying the Framework to ground regenerative landscape transition planning in locally defined priorities before measurement approaches are defined.  

 

Companies and supply chain actors are invited to use the Regen10 Outcomes Framework to ground sourcing strategies and supplier engagement in clearly defined outcomes, communicate consistent expectations, and assess whether their programs, sourcing models, incentives across value creation and distribution, pricing and contracting, risk-sharing arrangements, and long-term commitments are meaningfully contributing to credible and resilient regenerative transformation, rather than externalizing costs or risks elsewhere in the system.  

 

Funders and investors are invited to use the Regen10 Outcomes Framework to design programs and instruments that target meaningful outcomes and mitigate risk, evaluate alignment across their portfolios, and support coherence rather than fragmentation in the initiatives they fund. By aligning capital with shared outcomes, funders and investors can reduce fragmentation, discourage short-term or single-issue interventions, and support more durable system change.  

 

Policymakers and public agencies are invited to use the Regen10 Outcomes Framework to inform national strategies, align public programs with regenerative outcomes, and create enabling conditions for farm and landscape-level transformation. Public agencies can also use it to manage and mitigate public risk (e.g., land degradation, biodiversity loss, and food security) by aligning incentives and safeguards with regenerative outcomes. Many regenerative outcomes, such as biodiversity conservation, climate stability, and water security generate widespread societal benefits that markets alone tend to underprovide,  therefore  requiring  public leadership alongside private action.  

 

Standards developers and assessment tools  are invited to use the Regen10  Outcomes Framework as a reference structure, mapping their indicators to shared outcomes, improving interoperability, and strengthening the credibility of their approaches.  

 

Intermediaries and technical partners, including farmer organizations, extension services, agronomists, consultants, and researchers, are invited to play a critical role in applying outcomes to context-specific practices through  assessments and guidance. Farmers make daily decisions, so a trusted facilitator may support farmers to bridge that gap from systems theory to locally relevant practice. Regen10 provides the shared reference point, while intermediaries translate outcomes into context-specific guidance that supports, rather than replaces, local decision-making. 

‍

How actors are  already  using it  

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework supports multiple pathways. There is no one-size-fits-all model of regeneration. Actors engaging with the Outcomes Framework will be at different starting points, and that is expected. A smallholder cooperative in Kenya, a multinational sourcing company, a landscape coalition in Brazil, and a government designing national policy all face different constraints, capacities, and entry points. The Framework does not require everyone to start in the same place, and it is already shaping how organizations approach regenerative transitions. This flexibility allows diverse actors to engage from their own contexts while still aligning with a shared definition of what regenerative outcomes should deliver over time.  

  

One Acre Fund has used the Regen10 Outcomes Framework to build an indicator package for the millions of smallholder farmers they work with across sub-Saharan Africa. It has helped guide organizational strategy and align internal country teams around shared outcomes while allowing context-specific measurement, with annual reporting against selected indicators.  

 

LandScale has developed a regenerative agriculture assessment lens for their landscape-level assessment tool, directly referencing the Regen10 Outcomes Framework. This enables landscape initiatives using LandScale to assess progress against outcomes that connect farm and landscape levels.  

 

Rare has drawn on the Regen10 Outcomes Framework to develop an indicator package for their regenerative agriculture work in Colombia, grounding their program design in outcomes that reflect both ecological and social dimensions.  

 

These examples illustrate the Regen10 Outcomes Framework's core function: providing a shared reference that diverse actors can adapt to their contexts without starting from scratch.  

Connection to other initiatives  

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework does not exist in isolation. Today’s regenerative ecosystem includes business implementation frameworks, landscape and farm assessments, certifications, and standards, each designed to serve different actors and purposes. What many actors have called for is a shared upstream reference for what regenerative agrifood systems can achieve across environmental, social, and governance dimensions. The Outcomes Framework fills this gap by offering a multi-stakeholder–validated, outcomes-based reference that clarifies regenerative agrifood systems’ long-term aspirations, while allowing initiatives to retain their own methodologies, tools, and scope.  

 

Alignment in this context does not mean uniform metrics or approaches, but coherence around shared outcomes and long-term ambition. Not to be misread as standardization, Regen10 is collaborating with partner initiatives like SAI Platform, WBCSD, LandScale, 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People, and others to formalize how their work connects to shared outcomes. Regen10 does not assess, rank, or endorse individual tools or initiatives, but provides a common reference that supports transparency and comparability across the ecosystem.   

 

Regen10 is developing "Regenerative Journey" practical guidance to support engagement of actors at different stages in varying contexts.  The purpose of this guidance is to help different actors engage with the Framework in a credible and context-appropriate way over time, clarifying what deeper regenerative engagement looks like without prescribing implementation methods or creating compliance thresholds.  

 

Together, the Regen10 Outcomes Framework and Regenerative Journey guidance strengthen coherence, integrity, and credibility across the regenerative agriculture ecosystem while preserving flexibility for diverse contexts. 

‍

In 2026, Regen10 will also publish an ecosystem guide mapping how initiatives across the regenerative agriculture landscape connect - from implementation tools and landscape assessments to certifications, standards, and disclosure frameworks. The guide will aim to help actors understand where different tools sit, how they relate to one another, and where the opportunities for stronger coordination lie.

‍

An invitation   

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework reflects years of collaborative development - listening, debating, refining, and testing across diverse contexts and perspectives. It is designed for farmers and landscape stewards, landscape partners and coalitions, companies and supply chain actors, funders and investors, policymakers and public agencies, standards and tools developers, intermediaries and technical partners. The Outcomes Framework is meant to evolve, guided by a reflective approach to monitoring, evaluation, and learning, so that it grows alongside our collective insights and innovations. It enables accountability through transparency and alignment around shared outcomes, providing a credible reference point that supports ambition, comparability, and integrity across regenerative efforts.  

 

Now, the Framework is ready to be used, shared, and put into action. Its potential is real, offering a common foundation to align the growing energy around regenerative agrifood systems toward outcomes that matter - for farmers, communities, ecosystems, and the food systems we all rely on.  

 

The Regen10 Outcomes Framework provides that foundation. Engagement can take many forms, from aligning strategies and tools with shared outcomes to using the Framework to guide dialogue, design, and decision-making across scales. We invite you to use, test, and share learning back to evolve this  Framework together so that regenerative ambition translates into durable, real-world change.  

References 

De Matteis, L., Mattioni, D., Garcia Campos, P., Ilie, E. T., Wiegers, E., & Hawkes, C. (2025). International experiences of systems approaches: Re-thinking policies and governance to transform agrifood systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 380(1935), Article 20240159. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0159  

  

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2024). The State of Food and Agriculture 2024: Value-driven transformation of agrifood systems (SOFA Report). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd2616en.  

  

Global Alliance for the Future of Food. (2024). Cultivating change: A collaborative philanthropic initiative to accelerate and scale agroecology and regenerative approaches (Report). https://futureoffood.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GA_CultivatingChange_Report_052124.pdf.  

  

Loring, P. A. (2022). Regenerative food systems and the conservation of change. Agriculture and Human Values, 39(2), 701–713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10282-2.  

  

Scherr, S. J., Buck, L. E., & Granados, B. (2025). A strategy for transforming food systems through regenerative landscapes (White paper). EcoAgriculture Partners on behalf of 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People & Meridian Institute on behalf of Regen10. https://regen10.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Report_A-Strategy-for-Transforming-Food-Systems-through-Regenerative-Landscapes.pdf.  

United Nations. (2021). UN Food Systems Summit: Transforming food systems for the 2030 Agenda. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit (2021 summit overview).  

 

United Nations Secretary-General. (2023). Making food systems work for people and planet: UN Food Systems Summit +2 stocktaking report (Report of the Secretary-General). UN Food Systems Coordination Hub. https://www.unfoodsystemshub.org/docs/unfoodsystemslibraries/stocktaking-moment/un-secretary-general/sgreport_en_rgb_updated_compressed.pdf  (UNFSS+2 official report).

Explore the FrameworkDownload the Framework as PDF

Glossary

Terminology Definition Source
Adaptive planning A structured, iterative approach to decisionmaking under uncertainty, in which plans are designed to be monitored, reviewed, and adjusted over time as conditions change and new information becomes available. Haasnoot, M., Kwakkel, J. H., Walker, W. E., & ter Maat, J. (2013). Dynamic adaptive policy pathways: A method for crafting robust decisions for a deeply uncertain world. Global Environmental Change, 23(2), 485–498.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.12.006
Agricultural inputs Resources used in crop and livestock production, including seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, water, animal feed, energy, and labor. Adapted from: FAO. (n.d.). Ecosystem approach. Plant Production and Protection Division.
https://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/scpi-home/framework/ecosystem-approach/en/
Agrochemical An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of agricultural chemical, is a chemical product used in agriculture. In most cases, agrichemical refers to pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides. IPBES. (n.d.). Agrochemical. IPBES glossary.
https://www.ipbes.net/glossary-tag/agrochemical
Agrifood systems All the interconnected activities and actors involved in getting food from field to fork. This broad definition encompasses everything from agricultural production and processing to distribution, consumption, and waste management. It also highlights the critical role of economic, social, and environmental factors in shaping how food reaches our plates. FAO. (n.d.). Agri-food systems. Evaluation at FAO.
https://www.fao.org/evaluation/highlights/agri-food-systems/en

HLPE. (2017). Nutrition and food systems. Committee on World Food Security High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition.
https://www.fao.org/3/i7846e/i7846e.pdf
Animal welfare The physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and dies. Positive animal welfare describes conditions that enable animals not only to avoid suffering, but to experience comfort, agency, good health, and the expression of natural behaviors. WOAH. (2024). Chapter 7.1: Introduction to the recommendations for animal welfare. Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
https://www.woah.org/en/what-we-do/standards/codes-and-manuals/terrestrial-code-online-access/

Mellor, D. J. (2016). Updating animal welfare thinking: Moving beyond the “Five Freedoms” towards “A Life Worth Living.” Animals, 6(3), 21.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani6030021
Atmospheric systems The climate and air quality regulating functions operating at farm and landscape scale and beyond, including weather patterns, carbon cycling, greenhouse gas dynamics, and air pollutant dispersion. Atmospheric systems are influenced by land use, vegetation cover, emissions, and broader climatic processes.

Note: This Framework recognizes that atmospheric systems extend well beyond farm and landscape boundaries. The farm and landscape are where effects are observed and where land management can contribute to atmospheric regulation. 		IPCC. (2021). Annex VII: Glossary. In V. Masson-Delmotte et al. (Eds.), Climate change 2021: The physical science basis (pp. 2215–2256). Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896.022

World Meteorological Organization. (2017). WMO guidelines on the calculation of climate normals (WMO-No. 1203).
https://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/55797
Biocultural integrity The degree to which the coupled relationships between biodiversity, land management practices, Indigenous and territorial knowledge and traditions, and cultural values within a landscape remain functional and mutually reinforcing. Regen10 definition, informed by IPBES. (2024). Glossary: Biocultural diversity.
https://www.ipbes.net/glossary-tag/biocultural-diversity

UNU-IAS & Convention on Biological Diversity. (2014). Indicators of resilience in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS).
Biotic and abiotic stresses Factors that negatively affect crops or pastures. Biotic stresses arise from living organisms such as pests, diseases, or invasive species. Abiotic stresses come from nonliving environmental factors, such as drought, extreme temperatures, salinity, or nutrient deficiencies. Regen10 definition, informed by FAO. (2017). The future of food and agriculture: Trends and challenges.
https://www.fao.org/3/i6583e/i6583e.pdf
Breed Either a sub-specific group of domestic livestock with definable and identifiable external characteristics that enable it to be separated by visual appraisal from other similarly defined groups within the same species, or a group for which geographical and/or cultural separation from phenotypically similar groups has led to acceptance of its separate identity. FAO. (2012). Phenotypic characterization of animal genetic resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines No. 11.
https://www.fao.org/4/i2686e/i2686e00.pdf
Circular A system approach in which resource inputs and waste, emissions, and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing, and narrowing material and energy loops. Bocken, N. M. P., de Pauw, I., Bakker, C., & van der Grinten, B. (2016). Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy. Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, 33(5), 308–320.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21681015.2016.1172124

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2013). Towards the circular economy: Economic and business rationale for an accelerated transition.
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/towards-the-circular-economy-vol-1-an-economic-and-business-rationale-for-an-accelerated-transition
Cultivar An assemblage of plants that has been selected for a particular purpose, is clearly distinguishable from others of the same species or origin by significant characters, and retains those distinguishing characteristics through propagation under human control to ensure uniformity and stability. Brickell, C. D. et al. (Eds.). (2016). International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (9th ed.). International Society for Horticultural Science.
Degradation Persistent negative changes in the condition of land and ecosystems—whether natural, modified, or managed—that reduce their biological productivity, ecological integrity, or capacity to provide ecosystem functions and services, including food production, biodiversity support, carbon storage, water regulation, and livelihoods. IPCC. (2019). Climate change and land: An IPCC special report (Annex I: Glossary).
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2022/11/SRCCL_Annex-I-Glossary.pdf

UNCCD. (1994). Article 1: Use of terms.
https://www.unccd.int/convention/about-convention/text

IPBES. (2019). Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services: Glossary.
https://www.ipbes.net/glossary-tag/ecosystem-degradation

Accountability Framework Initiative. (2020). Definitions: Degradation.
https://accountability-framework.org/the-accountability-framework/definitions/article/degradation/
Dimension A thematic area of agrifood systems—spanning social, environmental, and economic aspects—within which regenerative outcomes are defined, tracked, and pursued. Dimensions are interconnected and interdependent; progress in one may enable or constrain progress in others. Regen10 definition.
Ecological connectivity The unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth. Hilty, J. et al. (2020). Guidelines for conserving connectivity through ecological networks and corridors. IUCN.
https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2020.PAG.30.en

Convention on Migratory Species. (2020). Decisions 13.113 and 13.114: Ecological connectivity. UNEP/CMS.
https://www.cms.int/en/page/decisions-13113-13114-ecological-connectivity
Ecological integrity The ability of an ecosystem to support and maintain ecological processes and a diverse community of organisms. Integrity is understood as a gradient, reflecting the degree to which an ecosystem’s current composition, structure, and function resemble its natural range of variation. IPBES. (2018). The IPBES regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Europe and Central Asia.
https://www.ipbes.net/glossary-tag/ecological-integrity

Nicholson, E. et al. (2021). Scientific foundations for an ecosystem goal, milestones and indicators for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5, 1338–1349.
Ecological processes and functions The interactions and flows of energy and materials that maintain ecosystem structure, productivity, and resilience—including nutrient cycling, energy flow, pollination, and decomposition. These underpin biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. IPBES. (n.d.). Ecosystem function. IPBES glossary.
https://www.ipbes.net/glossary/ecosystem-function

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: Synthesis. Island Press.
Ecosystems Dynamic complexes of plant, animal, and microorganism communities and their nonliving environment interacting as functional units.

Note: In this Framework, ecosystems encompass both natural and managed systems—forests, wetlands, grasslands, agricultural landscapes—and the ecological processes that sustain biodiversity, nutrient cycling, pollination, pest regulation, and other functions. 		Convention on Biological Diversity. (1992). Article 2: Use of terms.
https://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/?a=cbd-02
Economic security Economic security is generally defined as the assurance of an adequate income. Economic security depends on three things: financial security, financial stability, and financial continuity. Adequacy is achieved through both financial security and financial stability, while assurance is achieved through financial continuity. Financial security is the ability of a person/household to secure a basic quality of life. Financial stability is the ability of households to weather unexpected income shocks, such as unexpected expenses or declines in income. Financial continuity is a reasonable expectation that a base level of income will continue in both the near term and the future. International Labour Office. (2004). Economic security for a better world. ILO Socio-Economic Security Programme.

Rejda, G. E. (2012). Social insurance and economic security (7th ed.). Routledge.
Farm An economic unit of agricultural production under single management and comprises all the livestock kept and all the land used, wholly or partly, for agricultural production purposes, without regard to title, legal form or size. Management may be exercised singly, by an individual or household; jointly, by two or more individuals or households; by a clan or tribe; or by a juridical person such as a corporation, cooperative or government agency. FAO. (1995). Programme for the World Census of Agriculture 2000 (FAO Statistical Development Series No. 5).
https://www.fao.org/4/x2919e/x2919e05.htm
Food loss The decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by food suppliers in the chain, excluding retail, food service providers and consumers. FAO. (2019). The state of food and agriculture 2019: Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction.
https://www.fao.org/3/ca6030en/ca6030en.pdf
Food waste The decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by retailers, food services and consumers. FAO. (2019). The state of food and agriculture 2019: Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction.
https://www.fao.org/3/ca6030en/ca6030en.pdf
Food security A situation in which all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. FAO. (1996). Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit Plan of Action. World Food Summit, Rome.
Function The roles, processes, or behaviors performed by a system that arise from interactions among its components. Functions are identified by observing what a system does—the patterns and outcomes it generates over time—rather than by stated intent alone.

Note: In this Framework, landscape-level outcomes are expressed as system functions—describing what systems must deliver through coordinated multi-stakeholder action—in contrast to farm-level outcomes, which describe desired conditions where farmers have primary agency. 		Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer (D. Wright, Ed.). Chelsea Green Publishing.
Genetic material Any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity. Convention on Biological Diversity. (1992). Article 2: Use of terms.
https://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/?a=cbd-02
Genetic resources Genetic material of actual or potential value. Convention on Biological Diversity. (1992). Article 2: Use of terms.
https://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/?a=cbd-02
Habitat The place or type of site where an organism or population naturally occurs. Convention on Biological Diversity. (1992). Article 2: Use of terms.
https://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/?a=cbd-02
Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) Pesticides that are acknowledged to present particularly high levels of acute or chronic hazards to health or the environment according to internationally accepted classification systems such as WHO or GHS, or their listing in relevant binding international agreements or conventions. In addition, pesticides that appear to cause severe or irreversible harm to health or the environment under conditions of use in a country may be considered to be and treated as highly hazardous. FAO & WHO. (2014). International code of conduct on pesticide management.

FAO & WHO. (2016). Guidelines on highly hazardous pesticides.
Hydrological systems The interconnected components that govern water movement, storage, and quality within and across landscapes, including watersheds, groundwater systems, rivers, wetlands, irrigation infrastructure, and water management institutions. Hydrological systems regulate water availability, quality, and flow for agricultural, ecological, and human use. Regen10 definition, informed by:
Global Water Partnership. (2000). Integrated Water Resources Management (TAC Background Papers No. 4).

Cap-Net, UNDP, & SIWI. (2020). IWRM Training Manual 1: Principles and Practices of Integrated Water Resources Management.
Illustrative indicators A measure or observable signal that provides evidence of progress towards a regenerative outcome. In this Framework, indicators are illustrative rather than prescriptive—they signal the types of evidence relevant to each outcome without mandating specific metrics, allowing for contextual adaptation across geographies and measurement systems. Regen10 definition.
Infrastructure, equipment, facilities, and services The basic physical structures, equipment, facilities, and technical services needed for efficient agricultural production and marketing.

In this Framework, infrastructure encompasses:
Physical infrastructure: roads, bridges, irrigation systems, storage facilities, telecommunications, electrification, processing facilities
Equipment: durable farm machinery and tools such as tractors, ploughs, sprayers, and cold chain technology
Technical services: extension, advisory, veterinary, and technical assistance services

Other infrastructure types identified in literature are addressed in related outcomes: financial infrastructure (Economics & Finance), health and education (Farmers & Workers), input distribution (Agricultural Inputs), institutional infrastructure such as cooperatives (Governance). 		Munyanyi, W. (2013). Agricultural infrastructure development imperative for sustainable food production: A Zimbabwean perspective. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 12(2), 13–21.
Input supply networks The interconnected actors, infrastructure, and logistics systems involved in providing agricultural inputs to farmers—including suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and cooperatives. Input supply networks determine what products are available, accessible, and affordable to farmers, including both conventional and regenerative alternatives.

Note: This is a Framework construction. It focuses on the upstream provision function—what networks make available to farmers—distinct from governance (which regulates) and economic systems (which finance). 		Mentzer, J. T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J. S., Min, S., Nix, N. W., Smith, C. D., & Zacharia, Z. G. (2001). Defining supply chain management. Journal of Business Logistics, 22(2), 1–25.
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2158-1592.2001.tb00001.x
Intact The state in which the ecological, cultural, governance, and knowledge systems of a landscape or territory remain functionally interconnected and able to sustain the diversity, productivity, and identity they have co-produced over time. Regen10 definition (framework-specific construct). Ecological lineage grounded in IUCN (2020) and IPBES (2019); biocultural extension informed by UNESCO–CBD Joint Programme of Work and FAO GIAHS.
Landscape A socio-ecological area including interconnected natural and human-altered lands and waters, shaped by distinct natural processes, historical events, economic activities, and social and cultural practices. A landscape includes rivers, forests, and mountains as well as farms, cities, settlements, and other land uses, all influenced by the way people and nature interact over time.

There are many other terms with overlapping meanings, such as seascapes, territories, and bioregions. Landscape boundaries are defined by their stakeholders and are typically large enough to encompass key ecological, economic, or social features—commonly at least 100,000 hectares, but may be smaller or range to millions of hectares. 		Scherr, S. J., Buck, L. E., & Granados, B. (2025). A strategy for transforming food systems through regenerative landscapes. EcoAgriculture Partners, on behalf of 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People, and Meridian Institute, on behalf of Regen10.
Landscape agrifood systems The interconnected activities, actors, and infrastructure involved in food production, processing, distribution, and consumption within a landscape. This includes agricultural production, supply chains, markets, and the ecological, social, and economic conditions that shape how food is produced and accessed in a given place.

Note: This is a Framework construction combining the concepts of agrifood systems and landscape. It emphasizes that food systems are place-bound—shaped by local ecological conditions, land use patterns, governance, and cultural practices—and cannot be understood in isolation from the landscapes in which they operate. 		Regen10 definition, informed by FAO. (2021). The State of Food and Agriculture 2021: Making agrifood systems more resilient to shocks and stresses.
https://www.fao.org/3/cb4476en/cb4476en.pdf

Sayer, J. et al. (2013). Ten principles for a landscape approach to reconciling agriculture, conservation, and other competing land uses. PNAS, 110(21), 8349–8356.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1210595110
Landscape economic systems The economic structures, markets, institutions, and relationships that shape how value is created, distributed, and captured within and connected to a landscape, including farmgate and local market prices, contract arrangements, cooperative structures, access to finance, risk-sharing mechanisms, and connections to broader regional and national markets.

Note: This is a Framework construction. Landscape economic systems are influenced by national and global dynamics but manifest in specific ways at landscape level, shaping the economic reality farmers and communities experience. 		Regen10 definition.

García-Martín, M. et al. (2021). Linking food systems and landscape sustainability: Conceptual perspectives and empirical insights. Landscape Ecology, 36(1), 29–46.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01168-5
Landscape governance The formal and informal institutions, processes, policies, and norms through which decisions affecting land, resources, and people are made, implemented, and enforced at landscape scale—including government structures, customary authorities, multi-stakeholder platforms, and the rules governing access, use, and rights. Landscape governance mediates between local realities and national/international frameworks and policies. Regen10 definition.

IUCN. (2019). Natural resource governance framework.
https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/natural-resource-governance-framework

FAO. (2012). Voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security.
https://www.fao.org/tenure/voluntary-guidelines/en/
Landscape infrastructure systems The physical structures, equipment, and technical services that enable agricultural production, processing, and market access at landscape scale. This encompasses physical infrastructure (such as roads, irrigation systems, storage facilities, processing plants, and electrification), durable equipment (such as farm machinery, tools, and cold chain technology), and technical services (such as extension, advisory, and veterinary services).

Note: This is a Framework construction. Other infrastructure types identified in literature—financial (Economics & Finance), health and education (Farmers & Workers), institutional such as cooperatives (Governance)—are addressed in related outcomes. 		Regen10 definition, informed by Andersen, J. J., & Shimokawa, S. (2007). Infrastructure and economic development. Journal of Development Studies, 43(5), 807–828.

Stilwell, F., & Makhura, M. (2004). Infrastructure and rural development in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 21(5), 835–851.

Munyanyi, W. (2013). Rural infrastructure and agricultural productivity in developing countries. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 8(22), 2673–2682.
Land tenure Relationship, whether legally or customarily defined, among people—as individuals or groups—with respect to land. It is an institution, with rules invented by society to regulate behavior. The rules cover from how access is granted to the right to use, control and transfer land, as well as associated responsibilities and restraints. FAO. (2002). Land tenure and rural development (FAO Land Tenure Studies No. 3).
https://www.fao.org/4/y4307e/y4307e05.htm
Life cycle A life cycle approach considers the environmental, social, and economic impacts across all stages of a product or service—from raw material extraction and production (before reaching farm/landscape) through use to end-of-life disposal. The goal is to reduce resource use and emissions while improving socio-economic performance, ensuring that improvements at one stage do not create trade-offs at another. Adapted from UNEP. (2011). Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: Making informed choices on products.
https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2011%20-%20Towards%20LCSA.pdf
Lifelong learning Continuous acquisition of skills, knowledge, and experience throughout a person’s life, enabling farmers and workers to adapt, innovate, and thrive in evolving agricultural systems. Regen10 definition, informed by UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2015). Communities in action: Lifelong learning for sustainable development.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000234185
Livelihoods A person’s or a group’s way of making a living, from the environment or in the economy—including provisions for basic needs and assurance of access to food, clean water, health, education, housing, and the materials needed for their life and comfort—either through their own direct use of natural resources or through exchange, barter, trade, or engagement in the market. It encompasses the capabilities, assets, and activities required to secure the necessities of life. Adapted from Chambers, R., & Conway, G. R. (1992). Sustainable rural livelihoods: Practical concepts for the 21st century (IDS Discussion Paper No. 296).
https://www.ids.ac.uk/download.php?file=files/Dp296.pdf
Local communities Communities with shared identity, connection to place, and collective systems of governance, land use, or resource management—whether formal or customary—who maintain their own social, cultural, and economic institutions. Regen10 definition, informed by Accountability Framework Initiative. (2020). Definitions: Local communities.
https://accountability-framework.org/the-accountability-framework/definitions/article/local-communities/
Local Knowledge and Traditions A cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. It is also referred to by other terms such as: indigenous, local or traditional knowledge; traditional ecological/environmental knowledge (TEK); farmers’ or fishers’ knowledge; ethnoscience; indigenous science; folk science. IPBES. (2015). Preliminary guide regarding diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits, including biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services (IPBES/3/INF/4).
https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/IPBES-4-INF-13_EN.pdf
Nutritious food “Safe foods” that contribute essential nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals (micronutrients), fiber and other components, to healthy diets that are beneficial for growth, health and development and guard against malnutrition. In nutritious foods, the presence of nutrients of public health concern, such as saturated fats, free sugars and salt/sodium, is minimized, industrially produced trans fats are eliminated and salt is iodized. Committee on World Food Security. (2021). Voluntary guidelines on food systems and nutrition. CFS/FAO.
https://www.fao.org/3/cc3017en/cc3017en.pdf
Outcome A sustained change in the state or condition of a system, its components, or their interactions. Outcomes reflect how social, ecological, economic, and institutional elements of the system evolve over time, indicating progress toward broader goals of sustainability, resilience, and equity. In this Framework, outcomes are distinguished from practices (what actors do) and outputs (what is directly produced), focusing instead on the changes in system conditions that matter. Regen10 definition, informed by Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer (D. Wright, Ed.). Chelsea Green Publishing.
Outcome-based indicator Indicators that show whether interventions have delivered on their original goals in the end term, by quantifying the changes that have occurred, and are typically monitored over the long term. Schreefel, L. et al. (2024). How to monitor the ‘success’ of agricultural sustainability: A perspective. Global Food Security, 43, 100810.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2024.100810
Resilience The ability of a system, community, or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management. UNDRR. (2017). Sendai Framework terminology on disaster risk reduction.
https://www.undrr.org/terminology/resilience
Result-based indicator Indicators that show the mid-term consequences or quality of interventions, based on activity data, indicating whether the applied interventions had the desired effect. Schreefel, L. et al. (2024). How to monitor the ‘success’ of agricultural sustainability: A perspective. Global Food Security, 43, 100810.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2024.100810
Safe, fair, and decent conditions Working and living conditions that protect health and safety, ensure fair wages, social protections, and respect workers’ rights, enabling economic security and dignity for farmers and farm workers. Regen10 definition, informed by ILO. (1999). Decent work (Report of the Director-General, 87th Session of the International Labour Conference).

FAO. (2021). Decent rural employment.
https://www.fao.org/rural-employment/en/
Soil degradation A change in soil health status resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries. FAO. (2020). Soil degradation. FAO Soils Portal.
https://www.fao.org/soils-portal/soil-degradation-restoration/en/
Soil health The ability of the soil to sustain the productivity, diversity, and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems. FAO & Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils. (2020). Towards a definition of soil health (Soil Letters No. 1).
https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb1110en
Soil erosion The accelerated removal of topsoil from the land surface through water, wind, and tillage. FAO. (2019). Soil erosion. Global Soil Partnership.
https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/areas-of-work/soil-erosion/en/
Soil systems The living and non-living components of soil—including minerals, organic matter, water, air, and biological communities—and the processes through which they interact to regulate key ecological and agricultural functions such as nutrient cycling, water storage and filtration, carbon sequestration, and the support of plant and soil life. Regen10 definition, adapted from FAO & Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils. (2020). Towards a definition of soil health (Soil Letters No. 1).

FAO. (2022). Global Soil Partnership Action Framework 2022–2030.
https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/GSP/tenth_PA/GSP_Action_Framework_FINAL.pdf
Synthetic fertilizers Industrially manufactured fertilizers produced through chemical processes (e.g. the Haber-Bosch process for nitrogen) containing concentrated nutrients designed to enhance crop growth. Distinguished from organic fertilizers, which are derived from biological sources such as manure, compost, or crop residues. Regen10 definition, informed by FAO. (2019). International code of conduct for the sustainable use and management of fertilizers.
https://www.fao.org/3/ca5253en/ca5253en.pdf
System A set of interacting components—actors, resources, and processes—whose relationships give rise to collective behavior and outcomes. Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer (D. Wright, Ed.). Chelsea Green Publishing.
Territorial systems Indigenous Peoples’ territories where land, ecosystems, governance institutions, cultural practices, knowledge systems, and economic relationships function as an integrated socio-ecological system, grounded in customary law, collective authority, and self-determination. United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (A/RES/61/295), Articles 25–27.
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html

IPBES. (2022). Assessment report on the diverse values and valuation of nature.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6522522

IPBES. (2019). Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6417333
Water use efficiency The ratio between effective water use and actual water withdrawal. It characterizes, in a specific process, how effective the use of water is. FAO. (n.d.). Water use efficiency. AQUASTAT Glossary.
https://www.fao.org/aquastat/en/
Water body A discrete and significant element of surface water, such as a stream, river, lake, canal, estuary or stretch of coastal water. Groundwater bodies are defined as distinct volumes of groundwater within aquifer. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2000). Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (Water Framework Directive). Official Journal of the European Communities, L 327, 1–73.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2000/60/oj