A step forward in turning ‘forgotten foods’ into ‘opportunity crops’

Interview with Lead author Maarten van Zonneveld

The prestigious scientific journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), announced the winners of its Cozzarelli Prize on 18 March 2024. This acknowledges papers that best reflect scientific excellence and originality, across six broad areas, selected from more than 3000 published every year. PNAS Announces 2023 Cozzarelli Prize Recipients (nasonline.org)

In sub-Saharan Africa, hunger and malnutrition is present, or not far away. And climates are changing, the production of staples like maize, rice and roots is becoming increasingly vulnerable. But, standing on the sidelines, many ‘forgotten’ food crops offer multiple opportunities, also sometimes called underutilized, neglected, orphaned or traditional crops. They can feed the hungry, nourish the malnourished, transform farming systems, help to resist shocks – climatic, economic and environmental, and reduce sourcing costs from treating diet-related non-communicable diseases. The species are native or indigenized, and all are well-adapted to local conditions. They were also part of earlier food cultures, and still are important locally, but not taken up in mainstream agriculture and food research and development.

Climate niche modeling showed that by 2070, it may no longer be possible to grow staple crops in 10% of the current cropping area in sub-Saharan Africa, with much of this area being in the Sahel region. The study also used this modeling to assess the potential of 138 traditional food plants that could diversify or replace staple crops, and identified 58 that are nutrient-dense and are suitable for integration into cropping systems under current and projected climatic conditions. These were divided into seven groups: leafy vegetables (23 food plats), fruits (17), other vegetables (15), cereals (9), pulses (7), seeds and nuts (6), roots and tubers (3). The paper concluded that diversifying food production in Africa with these neglected ‘opportunity crops’ improves both the dietary health and climate resilience of food systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

The research forms part of other initiatives that collaborating partners in this study are involved in. The World Vegetable Center is the only organization with a global mandate for vegetable research and development, including traditional crops, and works closely with co-authors in Benin and Taiwan. CIFOR-ICRAF scientists were involved in the modelling and data analysis, building on their rich experience with tree and shrub species.

Finding of this paper also fed into the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) initiative launched in February 2023 that aims to support African governments, farmers, agricultural researchers, and civil society organizations to adapt food systems for climate change with nutritious foods. Several of the paper’s co-authors were in a VACS panel of 40 experts that selected over several workshops, 60 of the most promising ‘underutilized’ crop species for further breeding and research – a dozen of which were vegetables.

And putting science into practice, the FAO Plant Treaty and NORAD (Norway) agreed to support the CIFOR-ICRAF genebank at its headquarters in Kenya, and Africa’s Vegetable Genebank at the WorldVeg regional center in Tanzania, that was officially inaugurated in March 2024. Upgraded with support of the government of Taiwan, this maintains the largest collection of traditional African vegetable germplasm. Also part of the ongoing Taiwan Africa Vegetable Initiative, another genebank was constructed in Eswatini as part of the Southern African Development Community Plant Genetic Resources Network, and seed of more than 17,000 landraces and crop wild relatives of these opportunity crops were collected in just three years, across four ‘vegetable biodiversity hotspots’ in Benin, Eswatini, Madagascar and Tanzania and will be maintained by the Africa’s Vegetable Genebank and the national genebanks in these countries. These collections give access to researchers, breeders, and farmers access to the genetic material to breed and grow opportunity vegetables and fruits for the diversification of farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Cozzarelli Prizes and other PNAS awards will be presented at a ceremony on 24 April, with online registration possible. 2024 Awards Ceremony (swoogo.com)