The Frontiers Planet Prize has been awarded to our publication “Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture” published in April 2024 in Science.
The study was far from a standard research project. It was a very collaborative effort. Together with 58 excellent collaborators, we harmonized data from 2655 farms across 11 countries and 5 continents. All datasets measured how agricultural diversification affects both people and the environment. Our key result is that agricultural diversification works for both people and the environment across many different crops as well as many different countries.
Because our study includes very different contexts from blueberry farming in Canada to smallholder maize in Malawi, oil palm and rubber in Indonesia and winter wheat in Germany, our key result – that agricultural diversification works – can guide transitions towards more sustainable agriculture across the globe.
I led the study together with Prof. Dr. Ingo Grass from the Department of Ecology of Tropical Agricultural Systems at University of Hohenheim. And I feel proud that we persevered to lead the big team of excellent collaborators through a data harmonization effort that seemed almost impossible at first.
The Frontiers Planet Prize comes with 1 million USD and was accepted by third author Dr. Zia Mehrabi, University of Colorado Boulder, at the award ceremony on June 17, 2025 in Villars-Sur-Ollon, Switzerland.
The Frontiers Planet Prize is the world’s biggest prize for transformative, science-based breakthroughs to enable healthy lives on a healthy planet.
A total of three global champions were selected from 19 national champions. The jury of 100 experts is chaired by Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström, Director of the PIK – Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a recognized expert in the field of global sustainability and the Earth’s resilience.
Thanks to all collaborators: Ingo Grass, Zia Mehrabi, Olivia M. Smith, Rachel Bezner-Kerr, Jennifer Blesh, Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi, Marney E. Isaac, Christina Kennedy, Hannah Wittman, Péter Batáry, Damayanti Buchori, Rolando Cerda, Julián Chará, David Crowder, Kevin Darras, Kathryn DeMaster, Karina Garcia, Manuel Gómez, David Gonthier, Aidee Guzman, Purnama Hidayat, Juliana Hipólito, Mark Hirons, Lesli Hoey, Dana James, Innocensia John, Andrew Jones, Daniel S. Karp, Yodit Kebede, Carmen Bezner Kerr, Susanna Klassen, Martyna Kotowska, Holger Kreft, Ramiro Llanque, Christian Levers, Diego Lizcano, Adrian Lu, Sidney Madsen, Rosebelly Nunes Marques, Pedro Buss Martins, America Melo, Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong, Elissa M. Olimpi, Jeb. P. Owen, Heiber Pantevez,Matin Qaim, Sarah Redlich, Christoph Scherber, Amber Sciligo, Sieglinde Snapp, William E. Snyder, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Anne Elise Stratton, Joseph M. Taylor, Teja Tscharntke, Vivian Valencia, Cassandra Vogel, Claire Kremen
Link to our paper that won the prize.