For decades, farmers have worked the land their own way. Some use traditional methods while others depend on chemicals to push yields. But today, those intensive practices have degraded the soil and broken the land.
Now, Kagiso Trust is changing the story through Regenerative Futures SA, a landmark initiative launched in partnership with Food For Mzansi today.
The respected development institution is championing regenerative agriculture, an approach that works with natural systems to build resilient soils that retain more water, support healthier crops and livestock, reduce reliance on costly inputs, and strengthen farms against the growing pressures of drought and climate change.
Regenerative Futures SA was launched at The Venue in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg to address the actual work and financial strains of changing how producers farm.
The gathering brought together participants from six provinces, including farmers, policymakers, scientists, academics, development practitioners and industry leaders, reflecting a cross-sector effort to rethink and reshape the future of agriculture.
Institutional barriers for next-gen farmers
The jam-packed programme, amongst others, included a fireside chat on regenerative farming in practice.
Panellists included Bertie Coetzee from Lowerland Organic Farm in the Northern Cape. Danie Slabbert joined from Sewe Slabberts farm in the Free State and Francois Maree represented RegenRoots farm, also in the Free State.
Mookho Chaka and Charles Tsenase from Rustlers Valley Regenerative Farm and Eco-Tourism also took part. Together they unpacked the real risks farmers face when trying to restore and rebuild soil health, as well as the on-the-ground successes, practical realities and moments of inspiration emerging from farms already in transition.
Maree, a well-loved TikTok farmer and egg producer known for his pasture-raised system, highlighted how a lack of institutional trust is actively penalising the next generation of farmers. He explained that financiers often favour traditional, long-term production models, which creates steep barriers for younger operators trying to build viable agricultural businesses.
His pasture-raised approach sees hens living outdoors on fresh veld 24/7, with flocks rotated to new grazing areas every two days to maintain soil and animal health.
Despite having guaranteed buyer contracts in hand, the 19-year-old Maree said he struggles to secure financing for a delivery vehicle and faces inflated insurance premiums simply because of his age.
“Just because I’m young, there’s no trust yet. I have the eggs, I have contracts, I have guys that want the eggs, but I can’t buy a vehicle [due to high lending rates linked to my age and perceived risk] because I’m still too young,” he said.
The disconnect of outdated banking and training systems
Slabbert, who has successfully transitioned over 1 300 hectares from conventional to regenerative farming, highlighted how outdated banking models actively stall the growth of sustainable agriculture. He bevelieves financial institutions remain completely out of touch with ecological realities, choosing the comfort of rigid checklists over forward-thinking practices.
“Our banking models are 50 years old. If you type in the word ‘regenerative’, the computer blanks. It doesn’t even know what it means.”
This lack of institutional understanding creates impossible demands, with banks routinely expecting farmers to guarantee their income months in advance despite volatile climate risks.
Slabbert noted that without pre-existing collateral or a guarantor to stand in the gap, starting or securing basic operational assets is an unrealistic expectation.
“You cannot start farming without a kickstart. How can you get collateral if you start?”
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Chaka, the stakeholder relations manager at Rustlers Valley, highlighted how standardised training actively penalises those trying to transition to sustainable agriculture. She said many farmers struggle on the ground because critical information is rarely accessible in their own language.
“We learn better when we do things together. If we can make this training manual available in a local language, it will also help,” she said.
This lack of tailored engagement also extends to the younger generation. Chaka noted that rather than forcing old approaches, the sector must adapt to modern platforms to make regenerative agriculture appealing to the youth.
“They like to make their mark on social media. Let’s involve the youth to be more involved in making regen a trend.”
Shift towards regenerative agriculture
Lowerland’s Coetzee stated that traditional agricultural models pushing for massive scale and hyper-specialisation are draining the life out of soil and local communities. He explained that a sudden loss of land forced him to rethink conventional methods and focus on localised value addition.
Coetzee noted that processing food directly on the land by building local mills, butcheries or wine cellars creates purposeful jobs and revives quiet rural towns.
According to him, traditional banks stall this transition because they rely on outdated checklists. He stated that lenders readily fund expensive tractors that lose value immediately, rather than biological assets like cattle, which actively improve soil fertility.
Coetzee said that investors must look beyond simple spreadsheets and provide patient capital to support the long transition period required to move away from chemical-heavy farming.
“That switched the thing for me [realising] we are not farming commodities, we are farming food,” Coetzee said. “And that changed everything for me… because for me, there was absolutely no passion in poison.”
He added that bridging the gap between farmers and financiers remains a critical hurdle.
“I think that is the big discussion that needs to be had on [regenerative agriculture], because I think it’s an investment that goes through farms back into local communities,” he said. “Building enterprises, putting up factories on farms.”
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