Applications Invited for Proposals for Building Resilience in Agriculture

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About the Organization

For more than 130 years, the National Geographic Society has funded the best and brightest individuals dedicated to scientific discovery and understanding of our world.

Our historic commitment to dauntless exploration dates back to our founding in 1888 when 33 prominent scholars and scientists established an organization dedicated to the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

Today, National Geographic Explorers are continuing to push the boundaries of knowledge, uncovering new insights about the natural and cultural worlds, and strengthening our connection to them and one another.

Well over a century after our founding, National Geographic continues to reach and resonate with millions of people worldwide. How has our organization stood the test of time? We’ve stayed true to our original mission to pursue and celebrate exploration, scientific excellence, education, and unforgettable storytelling while simultaneously evolving with nimbleness and fortitude in a rapidly changing world. We embraced innovation and intentionally adapted, thoughtfully expanding our business model and global reach. In doing so, we have remained a vibrant, relevant, world-class brand at the forefront of exploration and knowledge.

About the Grant

Today, about half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture, and about a third of the population’s livelihoods rely directly on agriculture. Yet, agricultural systems around the world are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and unless farming communities have the tools to be resilient and adapt, these impacts can lead to global and local disruptions in livelihoods, ecosystem health, culture, and the supply of food.

Based on climate models, agricultural systems will face increasing challenges related to weather, climate, pests and diseases, deteriorating soil quality, and other changing conditions. These agricultural systems rely on the stewardship and innovation of farming communities worldwide. Farming is an occupation and livelihood where people have been innovating to adapt and thrive ensuring food security and supply since time immemorial. While the toolbox of solutions to address risks and build resilience is vast, approaches might be in the earlier stages of piloting, or are applied on local scales because the expertise is maintained by traditional and Indigenous knowledge systems.

Opportunity Overview:

This funding opportunity is made possible through an impact-driven collaboration between the National Geographic Society and PepsiCo.

This funding opportunity will support innovative projects that apply science and innovation in a real-world context, focused on feasible, nature-positive solutions. The projects should have measurable outcomes on the resilience of farms, farming communities, and natural ecosystems in the farming landscapes to the realities of changing climates and extreme weather events. The projects will demonstrate, measure, and support practices and approaches that are regenerative. The project’s main goals must aim to make farms, farming communities, and natural ecosystems more resilient and demonstrate two or more of the following outcomes:

• Soil Health: Build the health and fertility of the soil to support a healthy and productive ecosystem above and below ground.
• Climate Mitigation and Adaptation: Increase resilience to climate change impacts, sequester carbon, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Watershed Health: Improve watershed health through reducing nutrient runoff and the quantity of water needed for farms and communities to thrive.
• Biodiversity: Protect and improve biodiversity across agricultural landscapes – examples include forest conservation and restoration, bees and other pollinators for crops as well as improving the soil microbiome.
• Improved Livelihoods: Improve livelihoods in locally contextualized ways, ensuring farmers’ access to training, decision making and resources to implement sustainable agricultural practices and achieve improved farm performance.

We will only consider projects with a predominant field or land component where solutions are applied and tested on a farm, in a farming community, or in a landscape adjacent to cultivated land. The projects should include one or more of the following terrestrial food crops: corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, sugar beets, oilseeds (i.e. canola, sunflower, rice bran), rice, cocoa, oil palm, raisins and soy.

We are particularly interested in supporting applied science-based projects that address highly localized barriers in adopting more regenerative, climate smart land management approaches. This means that in addition to understanding the environmental outcomes, projects must also evaluate the cultural, social and economic feasibility of adoption and scalability. In addition, projects should be co-produced and/or led by local collaborators who have relevant farming or farming community knowledge and experience in the local context. All projects should align with FAIR and CARE principles to ensure ethical integrity.

Benefits:

Grant recipients become National Geographic Explorers, will join the Explorer Community, and will be eligible for future learning, capacity building, and networking opportunities.

In addition, grant recipients:

• may need to be available to travel to Europe for an event soon after receiving notification of awards in January, 2026;
• will travel to the National Geographic Society’s Base Camp headquarters in Washington DC for a multi-day gathering to meet Society staff and key partners in 2026.
• may receive additional mentorship, training, and other elevation opportunities as individuals and as a cohort; and,
• might be featured in communications materials by the Society and/or the funding partner that may include (but are not limited to) video and photography related to themselves, the project, and their results, shared through various media platforms.

Eligibility

This opportunity is awarded as a Level II grant, which is best suited for individual project leaders with sufficient experience leading solutions-based regenerative projects on a farm, in a farming community, or in an impacted landscape adjacent to cultivated land. These grants are highly competitive and are reserved for select projects that meet the criteria and achieve significant tangible impact.

Previous National Geographic Explorers as well as those new to our community are welcome to apply. You are not required to have previously received a grant from the National Geographic Society to apply for this opportunity.

• Requested project budget may not exceed $150,000
• Applicant must not be a current National Geographic Society staff member
• Applicant must be over the age of 18
• Project must be completed within 2 years of receipt of funding
• Applications must be submitted in English, although English does not have to be the PI’s primary language
• The project includes one or more of the following terrestrial food crops: corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, sugar beets, oilseeds (i.e. canola, sunflower, rice bran), rice, cocoa, oil palm, raisins and soy.
• The project has a predominant field or land component where solutions are applied and tested on a farm, in a farming community, or in a landscape adjacent to cultivated land.
• The application includes project collaborator(s) who have appropriate farming or farming community expertise and local connections.

How to Apply

Submission Deadline: September 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT

Apply now

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Tags Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Livelihood Rural Development Others