Bringing back neglected crops: A food and climate solution for Africa

As the food and climate crises continue to cause suffering around the world, one under-appreciated solution — neglected crops — could be a powerful tool to alleviate both crises in one of the worst affected regions: Africa.

Neglected crops — including grains such as sorghum and millet and vegetables such as amaranth, eggplant, and kale — are also known as “indigenous”, “lost”, “native”, “orphan”, “traditional”, or “underutilised” crops, or as ingredients in “forgotten foods”. These terms capture various aspects of these important crops: They are indigenous or native to a specific region (e.g., regions in Africa); they have traditionally been the basis for highly nutritious foods, but over time, they were lost or forgotten by many and thus orphaned; and they are now underutilised by farmers and producers and, likewise, neglected by consumers, plant breeders, policymakers, and donors.

Bringing back neglected crops is not a new topic, but the idea has gathered new momentum in 2023, which the United Nations has declared the International Year of Millets. This post makes a case for reintroducing and scaling up cultivation and use of these crops, which offer a promising way to address both the food and climate crises — particularly for Africa.

Neglected crops were traditionally cultivated for subsistence, but during the 20th century were gradually displaced by crops better suited to commercial farming. The globalising agrifood sector grew increasingly specialised, intensified, and concentrated. Along with modernisation and urbanisation, the search for ever more efficiency and productivity led to the dominance of very few (arguably too few) food sources. A handful of staple crops replaced the once-wide range of subsistence crops; 75% of crop varieties disappeared over the 20th century. In 2020, only three plant crops (maize, rice, and wheat) accounted for 41% of the world’s caloric intake. As Figure 1 shows, the growth in production area of these three main crops (in blue) in Africa has far outpaced that of traditional cereals (in orange), like sorghum and millet.

Neglected crops were abandoned as producers focused on fewer, more profitable crops, and as consumers preferred more convenient crops that could more easily be processed into food products.

Why bring back neglected crops? Part of the answer lies in increasing the number of food options and diversifying markets in order to create a more secure global food supply in the face of more frequent shocks.

The multiple crises of recent years have revealed many weaknesses in food systems. Events including local and global economic downturns, political and military conflicts, climate-driven extreme weather events, pandemics including COVID-19, and pests and crop diseases, have combined to push food prices up and millions of people into hunger. These crises have hit Africa especially hard, and it remains at high risk: More than one in five Africans, or 278 million people, suffer from chronic hunger, and food price inflation in Africa exceeded 20% in June 2022 (its highest level since tracking of the indicator began more than 20 years ago).

Climate change impacts are especially significant: On the one hand, these are already affecting food security and nutrition and expected to continue reducing crop productivity; on the other, food systems are responsible for 34% of global gross greenhouse gas emissions. Again, these impacts fall heavily on Africa. Extreme weather events in the Horn of Africa, for example, are expected to worsen food insecurity and hamper progress toward reducing malnutrition, raising the number of people facing crisis or worse to 23-26 million if the ongoing drought extends for a fifth season.

How can neglected crops be part of the solution in Africa?

Expanding the use of neglected crops can help to diversify agriculture and food systems and introduce a greater variety of foods into global supplies—including more nutritious cereals, fruits and vegetables, and roots and tubers — while building resilience to climate change and providing employment and alternate sources of income for farmers. With parallel interventions and appropriate investments, including in additional agricultural production, diversification of food sources can help reduce consumer vulnerability to food price volatility and increase consumer food price stability.

Neglected crops also offer a range of options for enhancing dietary diversity. Many have relatively high nutrient density, which makes them particularly appealing. Many neglected staple crops are also more nutritious than dominant staples. Finger millet, fonio, and teff have higher iron contents than maize, rice, and wheat—though the latter three continue to displace the former (see Box 1). As shown in Figure 2, traditional cereals (in orange) also have a relatively higher amino acid content than non-native crops (in blue). Amino acids are essential for human health and contribute to better nutrition. ...


Read on, view illustrations, and access links to sources:
https://gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20240

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