Abstract
By the year 2050, agriculture will have to provide the food and nutrition requirements of some 9 billion people. Moreover, to maintain that level of productivity indefinitely it must do so using environmentally sustainable production systems. This task will be profoundly complicated by the effects of climate change, increasing competition for water resources and loss of productive lands. Agricultural production methods will also need to recognize and accommodate ongoing rural to urban migration and address a host of economic, ecological and social concerns about the ‘high inputs/high outputs’ model of present-day industrial agriculture. At the same time, there is a need to confront the unacceptable levels of continuing food and nutrition insecurity, greatest in the emerging economy countries of Africa and Asia where poverty, rapid population growth and climate change present additional challenges and where agriculture is practiced primarily by small-scale farmers. Within this context, we here review science-based evidence arguing that diversification with greater use of highly valuable but presently under-valorised crops and species should be an essential element of any model for sustainable smallholder agriculture. The major points of these development opportunity crops are presented in four sections: agricultural farming systems, health and nutrition, environmental sustainability and prosperity of the populations. For each section, these crops and their associated indigenous knowledge are reported to bring benefits and services when integrated with food systems. In this paper, we conclude that not only a change in policy is needed to influence behaviours and practices but also strong leadership able to synergize the various initiatives and implement an action plan.
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Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (http://www.ruforum.org/)
www.agrobiodiversityplatform.org. PAR’s goal is: “to enhance the sustainable management and use of agrobiodiversity by improving knowledge of all its different aspects. It seeks to promote research and integrate, mobilize and share research findings on the sustainable management of agrobiodiversity”
This is an initiative by FARA, launched on 20 July 2010. ABIA supports efforts of SROs, NARS and Partners in R&D on agricultural biodiversity in Africa; it will build partnerships for action, seek resources and commission research; it will engage in advocacy for right policies and for R&D in agricultural biodiversity
A global partnership programme supported by GFAR: http://ntfp.inbar.int/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
www.agrobiodiversity-diversitas.org. The agrobiodiversity cross-cutting network of DIVERSITAS (www.diversitas-international.org) aims to inspire and facilitate interdisciplinary research for understanding the role of biological diversity in agricultural landscapes. The activities span the continuum from basic to applied research across eight benchmark sites worldwide and include adaptive land management in collaboration with local stakeholders
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Acknowledgments
The Secretariat of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) is gratefully acknowledged for enabling collective efforts to highlight the value of agrobiodiversity in a range of development contexts, by fostering and supporting the Diversity for Development Alliance among all those involved here. A grant from GFAR to GlobalHort Secretariat enabled the engagement of Dr. Hannah Jaenicke to conduct the literature review on which this present paper is constructed. The authors wish to express their deep appreciation to Mark Holderness and Harry Palmier, GFAR Secretariat, for their leadership and much needed support. The contribution of Ms. Anne Vogelsang in the literature review has been very much appreciated. Peter Andersen, Paul Bordoni, Emile Frison, Luigi Guarino, Phil Hollington, Bhag Mal and Lim Eng Siang provided valuable input to an earlier version of the document.
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Dedicated to the memory of Dr Lois Englberger, 1949–2011, a champion of local foods for better nutrition
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Kahane, R., Hodgkin, T., Jaenicke, H. et al. Agrobiodiversity for food security, health and income. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 33, 671–693 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-013-0147-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-013-0147-8