Case Study Service Delivery Climate & Environment Ethiopia Maize

Scaling Regenerative Agriculture Adoption through Farmers Unions and Cooperatives: The OACF case

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14 Apr 2026 • 4 minutes read
by
Addisu Mulugeta,
Tatek Gebreab Gebregiyorgis

What is the innovation?

The innovation entails integrating regenerative agriculture into cooperative systems to enable widespread adoption and impact. Practices such as composting, crop rotation, and agroforestry restore soil health, enhance biodiversity, and build resilience while lowering costs and improving food security. Cooperatives provide shared facilities, training, demonstrations, and access to inputs, while collective organization strengthens market access. This model reduces adoption barriers, creates incentives, and empowers farmers to transition toward sustainable agriculture that secures long‑term productivity and resilience.

Key challenges addressed

Smallholder farmers in Oromia face declining soil fertility, dwindling yields, rising exposure to pests and diseases, and escalating costs of chemical inputs. These pressures weaken productivity and resilience, leaving farmers vulnerable to climate shocks and market fluctuations. For the Oromia Agricultural Cooperatives Federation (OACF), these challenges translate into lower and more volatile sourcing volumes, directly affecting aggregation efficiency, market reliability, and the federation’s overall competitiveness. Although regenerative practices offer solutions, adoption has been slow and fragmented due to barriers such as limited access to knowledge, incentives, inputs, and organized support. Cooperatives often struggle to mobilize resources across large member bases, making scaling difficult. To respond, OACF embeds regenerative agriculture into cooperative systems, establishing training and demonstration sites, providing inputs and seedlings, facilitating knowledge exchange, and promoting commercialisation of compost and vermicompost enterprises. 

How it works

Screenshot 2026 04 14 at 13.05.49
  1. Leadership embeds regenerative agriculture into commitments and practices, supported by guidelines and KPIs.v
  2. OACF establishes a Regenerative Agriculture Unit to support unions, cooperatives, and farmers.
  3. The Unit delivers locally adapted capacity‑building to unions and cooperatives through training, demonstrations, and exchanges.
  4. The Unit and cooperatives provide hands-on support to farmers.
  5. Cooperatives track adoption and resolve issues early.
  6. OACF off-takes produce from SHFs, prioritising off-take agreements with unions and cooperatives committed to regenerative practices

Tips for replication

Context

  • Foodscapes with soil degradation pressures and declining fertility
  • High input cost contexts with escalating fertilizer and agrochemical prices
  • High shortages of chemical fertilizers and other agrochemicals in the market

Best practices

  • Start with pilot cooperatives to refine trainings and approaches
  • Use shared facilities for composting and seedling propagation to reduce costs
  • Align regenerative practices with cooperative incentives (e.g. Priority for off-taking, input discounts)
  • Track soil health and yield improvements to build farmer trust and attract support
  • Leverage the momentum of the policy environment to deploy regenerative agriculture scaling plan

Enabling conditions

  • Well-structured farmer organizations setting
  • Strong cooperative leadership and member engagement
  • Access to technical support for composting, agroforestry, training and others
  • Partnerships with funders co-finance initial setup

Business Case: Outcomes for OACF

Improved supply security

Through regenerative sourcing, OACF secures the long-term continuity of its supply base. By maintaining soil health and biodiversity, OACF ensures that member farms can consistently deliver reliable volumes over time. This reduces dependency on chemical fertilizers by about 20%, improves yields by roughly 15%, and increased sourcing volumes by 10–12%, supporting OACF’s resilience in national and regional markets.

Reduced regulatory risk 

By adopting regenerative sourcing practices, OACF aligns with emerging regulatory requirements such as EU deforestation and due diligence regulations. This proactive approach lowers exposure to non‑compliance penalties, minimizes reputational risks, and ensures the cooperative remains prepared for future policy developments.

Better partnership & increased investment  

Embedding regenerative agriculture into its structure positions OACF as a leader in climate-smart agribusiness. This has already resulted in partnerships with pro‑climate national and international organizations and attracted investment commitments from multinational companies.

Impact Case: Outcomes for smallholder farmers

Lower production costs

Smallholder farmers spend 20% to 30% less on chemicals by using compost, manure, and local inputs, making farms more self‑sufficient.

Higher long‑term yields

Healthier soils and diverse crops give farmers steady harvests year after year without exhausting land or water, contributing to a 15 to 20 % increase in yields.

Diversified income 

Trees and mixed cropping provide extra products to sell, reducing reliance on a single crop and stabilizing earnings.

Impact Case: Outcomes for the environment

Better soil health 

Composting and reduced tillage restore soil fertility by raising organic matter and microbial activity. Long‑term application of these practices has been shown to increase soil organic matter by 10–20%, strengthening nutrient cycling and reducing erosion.

Improved water retention 

Enhanced soil structure from composting and reduced tillage boosts infiltration and storage. Studies report 15–25% gains in water retention capacity, reducing runoff and helping ecosystems withstand dry periods.

Outstanding risks & Challenges

  • Short-term yield decline: Farmers transitioning to regenerative practices may experience reduced yields in the initial seasons. This is often due to changes in soil management, reduced chemical inputs, and the time required for ecosystems to recover and stabilize. Such temporary declines can discourage adoption and create financial strain for farmers.
  • Delayed visibility of benefits: Regenerative agriculture often takes several seasons before improvements in yields, soil health, or profitability become evident. This time lag can test OACF’s ability to maintain farmer motivation and stakeholder confidence during the scaling process.
  • Dependence on organic inputs: Scaling regenerative systems often relies on a continuous supply of crop residues, manure, and other organic materials. Variability in availability, caused by seasonal fluctuations, or differences in farmer practices can restrict regenerative adoption at scale.
  • Institutional capacity gaps: Coordinating regenerative agriculture across unions and dozens of cooperatives requires strong governance, technical expertise, and management systems. Weaknesses in leadership or accountability could slow implementation.

Data source & Disclaimer

Information is based on IDH’s internal monitoring system, interviews with company, officers, and farmers have been held since the start of Technical Assistance (2024) during which the innovation is tested and scaled. A longer time span and additional data are needed to verify and quantify impacts.