Environmental health and biodiversity

The world needs better management of water, soil, nutrients, and biodiversity in crop, livestock, and fisheries systems, coupled with higher-order landscape considerations as well as circular economy and agroecological approaches.

CIMMYT and CGIAR use modern digital tools to bring together state-of-the-art Earth system observation and big data analysis to inform co-design of global solutions and national policies.

Our maize and wheat genebanks preserve the legacy of biodiversity, while breeders and researchers look at ways to reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture.

Ultimately, our work helps stay within planetary boundaries and limit water use, nutrient use, pollution, undesirable land use change, and biodiversity loss.

Features

tag icon Climate adaptation and mitigation

Ten farmers in a hot and dry area of Zimbabwe trial intercropping legumes and green manure cover crops alongside their maize, to assess their impact on soil fertility.

Features

tag icon Climate adaptation and mitigation

Indigenous farmers in Oaxaca are custodians of maize biodiversity, growing seeds passed down over generations.

tag icon Climate adaptation and mitigation

Climate-smart agriculture could be the solution for farmers to both cope with the impacts of climate change and reduce emissions.