Science for Africa’s future food security: reimagining the histories and futures of underutilised crops
Lilian Korir, Matthew Hannaford, Ted Fuller, 2025, Food Security, 1-5
The availability and utilisation of indigenous crops hold immense potential to improve food security, reduce hunger, and support adaptation to climate change across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These crops are nutritious and often demonstrate superior resilience to climatic extremes compared to globally dominant staples, such as monocropped maize. Furthermore, they provide essential micronutrients, dietary fibre, and proteins critical for public health and dietary diversity. Despite extensive scientific evidence of their benefits, underutilised crops remain marginalised within agricultural policies and commercial food systems, a legacy rooted in historical shifts favouring export-oriented and high-yield crops over traditional food sources. This prolonged neglect has contributed to the erosion of indigenous food traditions and knowledge systems, resulting in broader ecological, economic, and cultural consequences. This opinion piece examines the significance of understanding the historical transformations that have shaped the status of underutilised crops and argues that revisiting these histories is crucial for assessing how they can be reintegrated into contemporary food systems. By understanding their past significance and reimagining their future potential, we highlight the role of underutilised crops in creating resilient, equitable, and nutrition-sensitive food systems aligned with local and global sustainability goals.
