Practical Action

Practical Action used our strategic partnership funding to create farming that works by demonstrating how smallholder farmers can transition to regenerative farming practices in different agricultural and community contexts and use this evidence to leverage more investment to scale up regenerative agriculture as part of a broader systemic view of climate resilience and livelihood adaptation.

The Regenerative Agriculture Planning and Implementation Diagnostic (RAPID) Tool was developed and piloted as part of a collaborative action research project in Zimbabwe. The RAPID Tool helped local stakeholders to understand regenerative agriculture and identify where potential lay for change. The farmers, trained in regenerative agriculture, saw improved crop yields, reduced input costs, and they are pooling savings to buy inputs, reducing reliance on grants.

The strategy and evidenced-based impact has allowed Practical Action to position itself as the expert on systemic climate-change induced livelihood adaptations to leverage additional funding.
Practical Action’s increased resilience was demonstrated in response to USAID funding cuts to food and water security projects in Sudan. Flexible grant funding enabled critical work to continue, whilst replacement income was sought, providing communities with confidence and preventing the loss of in-country staff, knowledge and expertise.

The RAPID tool is adaptable to different contexts and is now being used in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Peru, with plans to expand its use to other countries. Funding supported Practical Action’s attendance at COP16 on Biological Diversity, COP28 and the Africa Food Systems Summit, elevating the organisation’s work and sharing its strategies on a wider global stage.