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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Sec. Climate-Smart Food Systems

Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1546626

This article is part of the Research Topic Conservation Agriculture For Food Security And Climate Resilience View all 7 articles

Mapping food businesses with regenerative potential in the Amazon and Central American Dry Corridor

Provisionally accepted
Max Yamauchi Levy Max Yamauchi Levy 1Bruna Luiza Amante Bruna Luiza Amante 2*Daniel Borrero Daniel Borrero 1Victor H. Bonilla-Muñoz Victor H. Bonilla-Muñoz 3Rosmaiky Guzmán Rosmaiky Guzmán 1Claudia Rojas Claudia Rojas 1Hector Cotto Hector Cotto 3Guillermo Detlefsen Guillermo Detlefsen 1Pablo Vagliente Pablo Vagliente 4
  • 1 Agrobiodiversity and Food Security Department, Centro Agronomico Tropical De Investigacion Y Ensenanza Catie, Turrialba, Costa Rica
  • 2 Centro Agronomico Tropical De Investigacion Y Ensenanza Catie, Turrialba, Costa Rica
  • 3 Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Naturales y Tecnología (IARNA)/ Universidad Rafael Landívar, Guatemala City, Guatemala
  • 4 Sustainable Business and Finance Direction, AVINA Foundation, Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The global food system plays a pivotal role in environmental challenges, being a major contributor to climate change, the primary driver of tropical deforestation, and responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. In response to these challenges, a regenerative approach to food businesses has emerged as a promising framework for driving environmental change and addressing the climate crisis. However, there is a gap in information across Latin America regarding the number, location, and activities of food businesses adopting a regenerative approach, hindering a better Excluído: the 36 Excluído: the understanding of this trend and limiting its potential support in the region. This article presents the results of a mapping effort using specific criteria and analytical frameworks to build a better understanding of how regenerative food business models are evolving in Latin America. The mapping was conducted across six countries in the Central American Dry Corridor and five in the Amazon Biome. The process involved using the Google search engine with 77 keyword combinations, complemented by information from 50 key informant interviews. A total of 181 businesses with a potentially regenerative focus were identified. Of these, 64 were explicitly using the term "regenerative," with its usage being more prevalent in the Central American Dry Corridor than in the Amazon. Notably, businesses using the term were non-associative enterprises. In contrast, associative enterprises such as cooperatives and associations, although not employing the term "regenerative," played a critical role in socio-cultural and environmental conservation of territories, particularly when led by indigenous or other local traditional populations. Furthermore, the participation of women in leading these businesses was higher than in other traditional businesses, though it still reflected global gender imbalances in leadership positions compared to men. This study provides one of the first comprehensive mappings of regenerative food businesses in the Amazon and CADC, offering valuable data from Latin America. The findings reveal the distribution, characteristics, and diverse ways businesses engage with regenerative practices, underscoring the need for further research beyond the explicit 'regenerative' term to fully capture the scope of initiatives driving socio-environmental transformation in the region.

    Keywords: Regenerative Food Businesses1, Regenerative Agriculture2, Food Systems3, Regenerative Transition4, Business Mapping5, Amazon Biome6, Central American Dry Corridor7 Inglês (Americano) Formatado: Inglês (Americano) Formatado: Inglês (Americano)

    Received: 17 Dec 2024; Accepted: 17 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Levy, Amante, Borrero, Bonilla-Muñoz, Guzmán, Rojas, Cotto, Detlefsen and Vagliente. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bruna Luiza Amante, Centro Agronomico Tropical De Investigacion Y Ensenanza Catie, Turrialba, Costa Rica

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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