Dutch farming needs a better deal to regenerate the land, Enviu analysis finds

The Netherlands, October 2026 — Dutch farmers are being asked to restore soil and nature while operating in a food system that often makes intensive production the safer financial choice. That is the central finding of a new issue analysis from Enviu Agrifood Netherlands.

The Degenerating Land: An Issue Analysis of the Dutch Agrifood System maps eight structural barriers across the food chain. Its conclusion is that changing farming practices alone will not be enough. Farmers also need reliable buyers, viable ways to earn from nature-inclusive land use, and partners willing to share the cost and risk of transition.

Three findings stand out from Enviu’s analysis:

• The transition has a risk-sharing problem. Moving to more sustainable practices can bring upfront costs, lower yields during the transition and operational uncertainty. The benefits of healthier soils and more resilient supply chains extend beyond the farm, while farmers currently carry much of the immediate risk.

• Demand needs an operating system. Buyers may want more sustainably produced food, but farmers need credible standards, dependable purchasing commitments and routes to market. The report also identifies a gap between the sustainability ambitions of institutions such as hospitals, schools and caterers and the supplier networks and procurement processes needed to buy accordingly at scale. The Dutch food system reaches beyond Dutch fields. Enviu includes imported agricultural goods in its analysis. The report identifies an opportunity to connect Dutch and European buyers with verified, sustainably producing farmers abroad, alongside changes to production and purchasing at home.

Enviu translates its eight identified barriers into seven opportunity areas. These include creating markets for regenerative produce, developing income models for nature-inclusive land use, sharing transition costs, enabling sustainable institutional procurement, building shorter and fairer routes to market, improving imported supply chains, and making healthy, sustainable diets easier to choose.

The report marks the beginning of Enviu’s work to test these opportunities in the Netherlands. Enviu is now moving into discussions and validation with stakeholders to determine which ideas meet a real need and could become viable business models.

Enviu invites farmers, food buyers, retailers, caterers, financiers and other partners to help test where new markets, shared investment and practical infrastructure can make a difference. The analysis is a starting point for that work.

The full report, The Degenerating Land: An Issue Analysis of the Dutch Agrifood System (September 2026), is available here. Enviu’s eight-barrier framework and seven opportunity areas draw on its own research and stakeholder interviews; the report also cites existing public research for many of its supporting figures.

For the report, interviews or background on Enviu’s next steps, please contact Daniël Moolenburgh .