What are the challenges and opportunities for nutrition-oriented landscape restoration in Malawi, a densely populated country where over 80% of people live in rural areas and depend on natural resources for their livelihoods?

Through knowledge co-creation workshops and consultations with representatives from 21 civil society organizations engaged in 39 community-based restoration projects, operating in all 28 districts within Malawi, we observed widespread interest in integrating indigenous food trees into landscape restoration initiatives. Yet, local actors voiced a need for greater knowledge management and capacity building across three key domains: (i) tree propagation (i.e., multiplication), (ii) improving seedling survival rates, and (iii) value chain development for tree-based foods.

In response, we worked with foresters, botanists, and agroecologists in Malawi to co-develop an illustrated tree-planting guide for indigenous edible tree species. The guide draws from local traditional knowledge and features botanical descriptions, a harvest calendar, and step-by-step instructions for planting and management. We presented the guide at two regional knowledge-sharing workshops with 40 practitioners from participating organizations. At these workshops, we used the guide as a point of departure for dialogues diving deeper into challenges and opportunities for incorporating indigenous food trees in restoration projects.

Read more about the process and findings in our recent paper published in PNAS NEXUS:

Find the guide (English and Chichewa versions) by clicking on the front page below:

The work was led by postdoctoral fellow Emilie C. Vansant. Guide illustrations done by Mette Jeppesen (Tanke-streger grafisk facilitering & illustration – København). And shout-out to all co-authors: Bowy den Braber, Charlotte Hall, Judith Kamoto, Esther Lupafya, Stepha Mcmullin, Sain Muskambo, Richard Swirah, Lovemore Mkunkha, Laura Vang Rasmussen.

Af Laura Vang Rasmussen

VERDEN FORSØGT FORKLARET er en samtalerække, som foregår hver uge i det historiske Universitetsbibliotek i Fiolstræde. Formatet er, at ugens gæst bidrager med forskningsbaserede perspektiver på temaer fra den offentlige samtale. Det foregår foran et live publikum – og der tales om det vi ved, det vi ikke ved, og det vi diskuterer endnu. Jeg var så heldig at være ugens gæst torsdag den 29. april i en samtale med Johanne Pontoppidan Tuxen, journalist ved Dagbladet Information. Arrangementet er støttet af Novo Nordisk Fonden. Stort tak til Universitetsbiblioteket i Fiolstræde for invitationen!

Kan vi mætte verdens befolkning uden at ødelægge naturen?

Vi producerer flere kalorier end nogensinde. Alligevel mangler én ud af tre mennesker i verden vigtige næringsstoffer. Problemet er ikke kun, hvor meget mad …

Vi producerer flere kalorier end nogensinde. Alligevel mangler én ud af tre mennesker i verden vigtige næringsstoffer. Problemet er ikke kun, hvor meget mad vi dyrker – men hvad vi dyrker, og hvordan. I dag kommer over halvdelen af verdens kalorier fra bare tre afgrøder. For at producere mere rydder vi skove og udvider markerne – og dermed forsvinder noget af det mest næringsrige mad fra det omgivende landskab. Vi er blevet ekstremt gode til at producere kalorier – men ikke nødvendigvis til at producere ernæringsrigtig mad eller passe på naturen. Laura Vang Rasmussen er lektor i fødevaresystemer og har forsket i alt fra majsmarker i Malawi til blåbærfarme i Canada. Hendes forskning peger på noget opsigtsvækkende: Der findes alternativer. Mere varierede landbrug og bedre samspil med det omgivende landskab kan styrke både biodiversitet og ernæring – uden nødvendigvis at koste på udbyttet. Men det kræver, at vi begynder at stille et spørgsmål, vi sjældent stiller: Hvornår er nok nok? Lyt med, når Laura Vand Rasmussen forklarer, hvorfor vores fødevaresystem producerer masser af kalorier – men ikke nok næring. Hvad vi mister, når vi kun kigger på marken og ikke landskabet. Og hvorfor Danmark også står midt i spørgsmålet om, hvad fremtidens landbrug skal producere – og hvad vi egentlig måler det på.

Emilie, Charlotte and Laura took part in ‘Science is wonderful! 2026’ organized by the European Commission. During the 3-day event (March 18-20) 44 ERC-funded teams brought research to pupils and students from primary and secondary schools across Belgium. The event had more than 4,000 pupils and students visiting!

ERC grantees at Science is Wonderful! – 2026 edition

`Science is Wonderful!` is an annual science

Our team hosted the booth ‘Forests are a treasure trove of delicious snacks‘. At the booth, we aimed to share our research from the ERC project FORESTDIET showing that wild fruit and vegetables from forests can make important contributions to people’s diets. Our message was simple: By protecting forests, we also protect nutritious (and delicious!) tree-based foods – benefitting people as well as nature!

At our booth, pupils and students learned about the “nutrient superpowers” of different fruits, nuts, and leafy vegetables that grow on trees. They could smell and touch different tree foods such as the fruit from the mighty baobab (also known as “the tree of life”). And they could make and take home their own seasonal calendar with local wild foods found in Belgium.

We also hosted a science show. At the show, the children went on a journey with our forest explorer. The children helped the forest explorer finding different tree foods with ‘nutrient superpowers’ to overcome different challenges faced during the journey!

A big shout out to organizers from the European Commission for their incredible efforts in making the event such a massive success – both for the visiting pupils and students and the research teams!

By Laura Vang Rasmussen

Vi har skrevet et indlæg, hvor vi påpeger, at selvom træplantning kan være godt, så risikerer det at skygge for vigtigheden af at bevare de skove og træer, som fortsat ryddes med stor hast.

Forskere: Træplantning i Afrika kan modarbejde den grønne omstilling – Altinget

Det er blevet moderne at plante træer. Men de skove, der plantes, har langt ringere værdi for biodiversitet end de skove, som vi mister. Og et enøjet fokus på at få plantet en masse træer så hurtigt som muligt er ikke nødvendigvis bæredygtigt, skriver Laura Vang Rasmussen og Jens Friis Lund.

By Laura Vang Rasmussen

Together with members from the Global Land Programme (GLP) Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) Co-Chair Rachael Garrett, SSC member Sofía Nanni, Fellow and former SSC Co-Chair, Navin Ramankutty, and IPO Executive Director, Ariane de Bremond, we have published an opinion paper in Eos AGU (the science news magazine of the American Geophysical Union (AGU)). The piece highlights how most academic structures are still largely organized around relatively narrow disciplinary perspectives, even as the world’s biggest challenges require interdisciplinary solutions. But creating communities such as the GLP can help interdisciplinary scientists thrive!

Creating Communities to Help Interdisciplinary Scientists Thrive – Eos

Solving complex challenges often requires diverse expertise, but skepticism remains within traditional academic institutions and mindsets regarding interdisciplinary science and scientists.

By Laura Vang Rasmussen

Vi har skrevet et indlæg, hvor vi påpeger hvordan den stigende interesse for internationale klimakreditter allerede nu bidrager til et nyt kapløb om jord.

Forskere: Når rige lande køber klimaaflad i Afrika, stiger den globale ulighed – Altinget

Parisaftalens regelsæt om klimakreditter er med til at drive et kapløb om Afrikas jord. Det er en proces med potentielt meget store konsekvenser for både klima, natur og mennesker og som ikke nødvendigvis gavner den grønne omstilling, Jens Friis Lund og Laura Vang Rasmussen.

By Laura Vang Rasmussen

In this Comment, we call for transdisciplinary collaboration and participatory action research to bring back opportunity crops such as bambara nuts, pigeon peas, and amaranth that can diversify people’s diets, restore soils and strengthen resilience. The Comment was led by Kate Schneider Lecy (Arizona State University). It emerged from a workshop in 2024 bringing together diverse researchers and practitioners from across disciplines and areas of expertise. Emilie Vansant and I are grateful to have been part of this initiative – and I was particularly honoured to be given the opportunity to deliver one of the keynotes during the convening. Funding for the workshop was provided by the Sustainable Agrifood Systems programme of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Read the Comment here:

Agricultural research approaches for crops that nourish by improving nutrition, soil health, resilience and prosperity – Nature Food

Addressing nutrition and climate resilience together requires transdisciplinary participatory action research with clear impact pathways for systems change that starts from the ground up. The concept of ‘crops that nourish’ is proposed here to offer a new mode of pursuing agricultural development. It involves iterative co-creation between farmers and researchers that prioritizes local needs and agency, human health, resilience and sustainability through a focus on opportunity crops.

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By Laura Vang Rasmussen

I feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity to deliver the closing keynote at the second annual National Sustainability Society Conference hosted by the University of Notre Dame.

I presented our work on how to make the way we produce food more sustainable – published in Science in 2024: Joint Environmental and Social Benefits from Diversified Agriculture.” In the paper, we showcase how redesigning farming systems can simultaneously regenerate ecosystems and enhance human well-being.

I hope that our results can inspire new paths toward sustainability. The theme running through the conference was that a just and sustainable future requires the flourishing of both people and the planet. But to transform farming systems, we need new ways of thinking and new structures. Farmers need access to land, credit, training and, above all, community. Yet, there are lessons to be learnt from those places where farmers have managed to overcome structural barriers, such as The Soils, Food and Healthy Communities in Malawi.

Thanks to the National Sustainability Society, Frontiers Planet Prize, Dan Brown, Christopher Boone, Arun Agrawal, Cristy Watkins and many others! And of course to all collaborators of the research, especially Ingo Grass!

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By Emilie Vansant

We are happy to have supported this work led by Saija Kauppila, analyzing seasonal calendars across various African countries. Her findings highlight the abundance of nutritious vegetables available during what is typically referred to as the “lean season”, demonstrating the potential of both wild and cultivated foods to support dietary diversity year-round. As we develop policies to address seasonal food insecurity, it’s timely that we expand the focus beyond calories to include micronutrients — and promote biodiversity stewardship as a pathway to better nutrition. Thanks to the Alliance of Bioversity International – CIAT for the collaboration! Check out the blog post here.

You can download the full brief here.

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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.