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Climate change isn’t a future problem — it’s here, and it’s already affecting the food supply chain.
The global cost of climate-related damages reached $143 billion annually in 2023, equivalent to $16 million every hour. These disruptions are more than financial—they threaten global food security, the livelihoods of farmers, and the long-term stability of the agriculture industry.
To ensure future success businesses must integrate resilience into their core strategies — securing supply chains, mitigating the effect of food production on the environment and establishing a food system that can recover quickly from climate events.
Regenerative agriculture helps accomplish these goals, and it’s gaining momentum today.
However, in order for regenerative agriculture to be effective, businesses must dedicate time and resources to implementing and scaling practice adoption. How can companies take decisive action when the challenges—like building a business case for investment and navigating policy uncertainty—seem so daunting?
In our latest report, The State of Agriculture Resilience, we surveyed 21 leading CPGs and agribusinesses to understand the challenges and opportunities in building resilience. Here’s what we learned:
1. Climate Change Is Already Impacting Our Food Supply
More than 70% of surveyed companies report experiencing climate-related volatility in their supply chains. As extreme weather events become more frequent, companies must shift from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience-building strategies.
2. Companies Need a Clear ROI to Invest in Resilience
Companies identified proving ROI as the biggest roadblock to scaling regenerative agriculture programs. To drive investment, businesses need to quantify both direct carbon outcomes and broader business benefits, such as procurement stability and brand reputation.
3. Collaboration is Key to Scaling Impact
Sustainability initiatives cannot exist in silos. Nearly 70% of surveyed organizations reported sharing ownership of sustainability efforts across multiple departments, while 80% are working with external partners. Strong collaboration—both internally and externally—is essential for aligning incentives and scaling the impact of regenerative agriculture.
4. Policy Progress is Important, but Waiting for It is a Losing Game
While 43% of respondents listed industry regulation as a key driver of climate action, waiting for policy to catch up is not an option. Climate change is already impacting supply chains, and we need to stabilize our food supply with or without regulatory guidance. Leading companies are already investing in regenerative agriculture programs that prepare them for future regulations and deliver supply chain benefits today.
What This Means for Your Value Chain
We now understand, through both data and anecdotal feedback, the impact of climate change on our food system and the imminent need to build resilience. We’ve also unearthed the most common challenges inhibiting growth and the opportunities that could accelerate change across the agriculture and food industries.
But in order to transform our industry and accelerate change, we’ll need to roll this data into an actionable list of key focus areas for leaders.
Looking ahead to 2025, companies that lead on resilience will be those that:
- Quantify the impact of climate change on their supply chains
- Develop a complete view of regenerative ag ROI to drive investment
- Build strong internal and external partnerships for collaborative progress
- Take action now rather than waiting for policy certainty
By prioritizing efforts in these areas, we can build on the experiences of industry leaders and create a more secure and resilient food system. The challenges are significant, but with the right data, strong collaboration, and decisive leadership, we can build momentum for resilience and accelerate regenerative practice adoption on a global scale.
Download The State of Agriculture Resilience to dive deeper into these insights.
