This panel deliberately convenes both advocates and critical voices on regenerative agriculture creating space for rigorous, evidence-based debate on whether and how regenerative practices deliver meaningful outcomes in water-scarce, arid contexts. Rather than presenting a consensus that does not yet fully exist, it confronts the hard questions: what does the evidence actually show, where have transitions succeeded and why, and where have they failed or been oversold. The goal is not to resolve the debate but to advance it - producing a clearer, more honest framework for what regenerative agriculture can and cannot deliver in MENA's specific conditions, identifying the data gaps that must be filled to build a credible regional proof of concept, and surfacing the indigenous and traditional knowledge systems that hold untapped answers the scientific record has yet to fully capture.
Panel topics:
● The case for and against: Advocates and sceptics examine the evidence base for regenerative agriculture in arid and semi-arid conditions: What the science supports and where claims outrun data?
● What works in water-scarce contexts: Concrete field examples of regenerative practices demonstrating measurable gains in productivity, water retention, and ecosystem function under MENA conditions
● What does not work and why: Honest assessment of transitions that have underperformed, the conditions under which regenerative practices fail, and the assumptions that do not hold in arid landscapes
● Mistakes to avoid: Practitioner and researcher perspectives on the most common implementation errors: From inappropriate technique transfer to unrealistic yield expectations during transition
● Key outputs and measurable benchmarks: What success looks like in practice, defining the indicators that matter for farmers, investors, and policymakers in a regional context?
● Mapping the evidence gaps: Identifying priority deficits in regional data - soil carbon sequestration rates, water retention metrics, yield trajectories under arid conditions - and the research agenda needed to build a robust MENA-specific proof of concept
● Indigenous and traditional knowledge as evidence: How centuries of arid-climate agricultural practice - from falaj irrigation systems to traditional dryland farming techniques - hold validated solutions that science is only beginning to document, and how integrating this knowledge alongside research evidence strengthens the regional framework?
● From debate to agenda: Translating contested evidence and knowledge gaps into shared research and monitoring priorities for MENA-specific standards and certifi cation frameworks
