The international Initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition was developed as a cross-cutting initiative under the Convention on Biological Diversity. In 2004, CBD Decision VII/32 called for the development of options for a cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition. At its eighth meeting in 2006, the Conference of the Parties adopted Decision VIII/23, formally establishing the Initiative and setting out its framework, objectives and suggested activities.

The Initiative recognizes the multiple links between biodiversity, food and nutrition, from the diversity of genetic resources and species used in food production to the diversity of foods available for consumption as part of healthy diets and the knowledge and practices associated with them. Its four elements provide a framework for addressing these links through developing and documenting knowledge; integrating biodiversity, food and nutrition into research and policy instruments; conserving and promoting the wider use of biodiversity for food and nutrition; and public awareness.

The adoption of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022 provided a renewed framework for advancing these links. Its targets provide entry points for strengthening the conservation and sustainable use of food biodiversity, including the sustainable use of wild species to benefit people, enhancing biodiversity in agriculture and other production systems, policy coherence, sustainable consumption, and the identification and reform of incentives harmful to biodiversity.

At its sixteenth meeting in 2024-2025, the Conference of the Parties adopted Decision 16/35, which invited Parties to implement the Initiative in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and to collaborate with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the preparation of an action plan for implementing the initiative.