News Overview

A series of studies reveals the concerning extent of food insecurity, soil erosion and productivity challenges in four countries where NATURE+ conducts research. Greater implementation of sustainable nature-positive activities and women’s empowerment interventions, strengthening community-based approaches, and enhancing market integration could provide multiple fixes. But these solutions require engagement with communities and multisectoral coordination by governments and implementing agencies. The

The CGIAR Nature-Positive Solutions Initiative made considerable progress in Burkina Faso. Activities with women’s groups, schools and climate-challenged smallholders established new frameworks to promote nature-positive activities and research. This report highlights NATURE+ activities across three years in Burkina Faso and looks ahead at the Initiative’s continued work in the CGIAR Research Portfolio 2025-2030. Read the Country Report: Nature+ in Burkina

CGIAR’s Nature-Positive Solutions Initiative took significant strides in Colombia. Identification of neglected and underutilized crops (NUS), the groundwork for a community seed bank and helping farmers move away from extractive farming and toward nature-positive practices were highlights. Strong collaborations fostered growth for bioeconomy startups. This report covers NATURE+ in Colombia and its continued work in the CGIAR Research Portfolio 2025-2030.

The CGIAR Nature-Positive Solutions had several successes in India. Most of the Initiative’s key activities happened in tribal areas in Maharashtra State. As with much of NATURE+’s work – particularly on neglected and underutilized species, or NUS – traditional knowledge was key to the Initiative’s activities on crops, trees and nature-positive agriculture in India. The Initiative’s highlights included launching a

CGIAR’s Nature-Positive Solutions Initiative achieved wide-ranging and comprehensive results in Kenya. Building on CGIAR’s community seed banks, NATURE+ established two aggregated farms for cooperative permaculture, and rallied another community to implement nature- positive solutions on their small farms. The Initiative rolled out an app that guides farmers on native-tree reforestation and provides economic incentives for successful tree establishment. All work

CGIAR’s Nature-Positive Solutions Initiative made substantial progress in Northern Vietnam, alongside rural, Indigenous communities who were the Initiative’s main partners. The hilly landscapes are rich in threatened and understudied agrobiodiversity, which some communities still successfully cultivate. To help landholders address soil degradation and unsustainable agricultural intensification, NATURE+ and partners studied traditional crops, promoted their sustainable use and conservation through value

Agriculture faces critical challenges, including water scarcity, soil degradation, and erratic rainfall, threatening productivity and ecosystems. CGIAR’s Nature-Positive Solutions initiative addresses these issues through innovative interventions like aquifer mapping, water harvesting, and soil conservation. Studies in Maharashtra’s Akole and Shahada reveal tailored strategies that improve groundwater recharge and soil moisture, boosting resilience and crop yields. These interventions align with global

Research and community-driven interventions by NATURE+ and partners mobilized new value chain activities in five countries between 2022 and 2024. Work focused on untapped potential for neglected and underutilized species (NUS) that rural women’s and farmer groups can sustainably manage, conserve and integrate into farm production strategies to benefit agrobiodiversity, food security, livelihoods and natural environments. Read the report: Approaches