2026 GAP Report: Restarting Growth: The Role of Regenerative Agriculture in Productivity Growth and Profitability

Abstract

Global agricultural total factor productivity (TFP), the ratio of all agricultural outputs to all agricultural inputs, grew an average of 0.63 percent annually during 2015–2024. That rate is roughly 30 percent of the 2001–2010 peak and the lowest recorded since the 1970s, raising the average annual TFP growth required through 2050 to 2.10 percent. Input intensification once again accounts for roughly half of global output growth, leaving producers more exposed to volatile input costs, supply chain disruption, and climate stress. The 2026 GAP Report™ develops a framework, built from the existing scientific literature, that connects regenerative agriculture (RA) practices to TFP growth and producer profitability through three channels: input reduction, natural capital accumulation that improves output over time, and output stabilization under climate stress. Applied across crop, livestock, and aquaculture systems, the framework shows input reduction carries the strongest near-term evidence, while natural capital and stabilization gains accrue over longer horizons than standard farm financial models capture. Outcomes vary by practice, soil, climate, tenure, and market access, and no study yet directly measures TFP growth attributable to RA adoption. A regional spotlight on the European Union, where TFP growth is now the only remaining source of output growth, examines three decades of farm accounts across 213 regions and finds no consistent relationship between agri-environment payment intensity and TFP growth. The report identifies three sequential bottlenecks to scaling RA: the evidence and data base, usable decision tools, and enabling policy and market environments. It sets out five priorities to drive a restart in productivity growth using regenerative practices and tools: harmonized monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) infrastructure; long-run, whole-system trials; localized decision tools delivered with extension; transition finance matched to risk; and target-based frameworks that include TFP growth as an outcome indicator.