Program/accelerator:

Multifunctional Landscapes

We envision vibrant, diverse and healthy landscapes that are managed holistically to support sustainable and diverse eco-agrifood systems, resilient livelihoods and healthy diets while remaining within planetary boundaries.  

In this vision, landscapes are co-created and managed by diverse stakeholders, who co-design technological, socioecological, and institutional innovations, engaged in policy processes, underpinned by inclusive governance and effective planning. 

Our work aims to help with

  • Feeding 9.8 billion people by 2050 sustainably
  • Stopping biodiversity loss of 34% of plant & 48% of animal species
  • Attaining US$125-140 trillion in yearly economic benefits

Where we will work in

Colombia, India, Kenya, Peru, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Vietnam, Zimbabwe 

Challenges we’ll address

  • Unsustainable global food production and consumption patterns for a growing population. 
  • Environmental degradation and biodiversity loss which already account for 80% of deforestation and two-thirds of ocean pollution, while degrading 85% of wetlands and threatening more than a million plant and animal species with extinction.  

Sign up for news and updates

Subscribe

Areas of Work

  • Solutions and Innovations
    Integrating science-based experimentation with local knowledge, this work area collaborates with stakeholders in target multifunctional landscapes to create “bundles” of solutions suited to specific contexts. These solutions consist of technological, socioecological, organizational and institutional innovations aimed at enhancing food production and human diets, while also supporting ecosystem restoration, biodiversity protection as well as climate adaptation and mitigation.
  • Landscape Planning and Governance
    To help reconcile agricultural, conservation, livelihood and climate objectives, the Program works with partners and stakeholders in prioritized landscapes to develop a shared vision for water- and land- use planning. The Program also addresses landscape governance, relying on dialogue and negotiation to strengthen the institutional arrangements, decision-making processes, policies and underlying values that shape how different actors pursue their interests in multifunctional landscapes.
  • Markets and Business Models
    To create stronger incentives for the adoption of multifunctional landscape solutions, partners and stakeholders co-create knowledge on markets and consumer preferences together with inclusive business models and financial mechanisms. Options involve working with stakeholders to create green business opportunities, circular economy approaches or the economic and financial valuation of ecosystem services and disservices.
  • Institutions and Policies
    Work in this area co-generates evidence and tools with subnational and national policy actors for better means to inform inclusive policies, strategies, institutional arrangements and investments. Analytical work – on political economy, policy, institutions and stakeholder preferences – goes hand in hand with capacity sharing, engagement and science-policy dialogues to help identify what needs to change and how for sustainable management of multifunctional landscapes.
  • Gender Equality, Social Inclusion and Fairness
    Inequality between women and men together with other forms of discrimination in resource access and decision-making pose significant obstacles to fair and equitable rural development in multifunctional landscapes. To overcome those impediments, innovative strategies and interventions are developed through social science research aimed at enhancing fairness and GESI (gender equality and social inclusion) in agrifood systems and multifunctional landscapes.
  • Performance assessment and evidence generation
    To determine what works best, where and for whom, stakeholders must have reliable means of monitoring multifunctional landscapes and assessing the performance of innovations. The Program and partners develop evaluation metrics and indicators together with a data management system and the use of integrated modeling approaches, using AI and near real-time digital solutions to provide fast and reliable support for reporting, targeting and investment.
  • Global Engagement and Learning
    We will focus on engagement and learning that adaptatively informs and reshapes research priorities based on feedback loops, using knowledge management, capacity sharing, communications, engagement, and feedback-loop strategies to enhance scientific evidence. We will do this while adapting research priorities to the evolution of megatrends and shifting demands of the landscape actors at national, regional and global scales.

Our Approach

Interlinked support across CGIAR’s portfolio

Our solutions contribute to various programs such as Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods, Sustainable Farming, Policy Innovations, Better Diets and Nutrition, Scaling for Impact, as well as the Digital Transformation, Capacity Sharing, and Gender Equality and Inclusion accelerators. 

Working to share our capacity with

  • farmers and extensionists 
  • national and subnational policymakers   
  • national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES)
  • private sector 

        Built on CGIAR’s proven expertise

        • Expertise in scientific knowledge and research 
        • Experience in creating data science frameworks and decision support tools that allow for real-time monitoring of landscape interventions 
        • Global reach and extensive partnerships with local governments, NARES, NGOs, and the private sector   
        • Strong social capital through collaborations in prioritized countries, ensuring partners continue to be engaged in the co-creation and scaling of innovations 
        • Focus on aligning market and non-market systems with environmental goals 

                Publications