Environmental Sustainability

At Corus, we believe there are five fundamentals everyone needs to survive. A ravaged environment can jeopardize the places people live, as well as their health, nutrition, and incomes. 

That is why we thoughtfully integrate environmental sustainability efforts into our rural economic development, health and humanitarian action work. 

Our approach resolves around five strategic pillars: 

• Regenerative Agriculture: We promote regenerative agriculture practices, such as farming techniques that restore soil health, increase biodiversity, and sequester carbon, to enhance environmental sustainability. By working with local farmers and rural communities, we champion sustainable food systems that not only improve livelihoods but also contribute to long-term climate resilience.
   
• Natural Resource Management: We focus on locally led, sustainable management of natural resources to support conservation and safeguard the ecosystems that communities rely on. By preventing overexploitation, we aim to ensure these environments thrive for generations to come.
   
• Disaster Risk Reduction: As the frequency and intensity of natural disasters intensifies, we integrate disaster risk reduction into our programs to build resilience in vulnerable communities. By focusing on proactive measures such as early warning systems, community disaster risk management committees, and education, Corus helps mitigate the environmental and human costs of disasters.
   
• Health Systems Strengthening: As part of our health systems strengthening work, Corus ensures communities and their health care providers are better equipped to handle the health effects of a changing environment, such as heatwaves, waterborne diseases, infectious disease outbreaks and food insecurity.
   
• Global Health Security: Environmental factors can contribute to emerging diseases and pandemics, jeopardizing global health security. Through programs that promote one health, clean water, and improved waste management, Corus helps reduce the risk of disease outbreaks linked to environmental degradation, ensuring healthier and safer communities. 

To protect the environment and the families whose livelihoods and health depend on it, Corus draws on expertise from its subsidiary organizations Lutheran World Relief, IMA World Health, Ground Up Investing and CGA Technologies. 

These organizations specialize in the following technical intervention areas: 

• Agroecology and agroforestry
• Land, soil and water management and conservation
• Carbon sequestration and biodiversity
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction
• Sustainable coffee and cocoa production
• Flood and drought resilience
• Environmental risk management in supply chains
• Infectious disease threats
• Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
• Humanitarian action and emergency response