Many crops are neglected in spite of being vitally important

Wheat, maize and rice are the main staple foods around the world. They grow on more than half of the fields on Earth and account for two thirds of humankind’s global calorie intake.

There are several, interrelated reasons for this striking imbalance. They include the industrialisation of both agriculture and food processing as well as selective prioritisation by agricultural researchers and professional plant breeders.

This concentration has some advantages, but also many disadvantages. In the past 75 years, the focusing on a small number of mass products facilitated the provision of huge amounts of staple foods at comparatively low cost. Unfortunately, the improved yields of wheat, maize and rice go along with serious environmental problems.

About three quarters of all crops disappeared from the fields in the course of the 20th century, according to an estimate published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1996. Some residuals of the once huge multitude are still found in geographical and economic niches, including in particular subsistence farms in remote areas of countries with low and middle incomes.

Global concentration 

Initially, it was publicly funded agricultural research that focused on a small number of crops. Private research and professional breeding followed. Next, farmers adapted to the trend, and so did consumers. As the yield and quality of the plants that were thoroughly researched and professionally bred improved fast, neglected plants became less and less attractive. Eventually, the neglected and underutilised species (NUS) became almost worthless in commercial terms.

Today we see how problematic this trend has been. It has blocked important developmental opportunities. Any reduction of biological diversity, moreover, weakens the resilience of ecosystems. The excessively narrow focus on only very few crops is at the root of serious environmental and economic risks.

It is environmentally hazardous, for example, that pests and diseases often spread dramatically. Such events generally necessitate massive agrochemical usage, which further reduces biological diversity. High yielding varieties, moreover, also require unsustainable amounts of water and fertiliser.

A particularly important economic risk is the disruption or even collapse of supply chains. The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s attack on Ukraine showed how quickly this affected availability and prices in disadvantaged world regions.

Three groups of crops 

The many thousands of edible crops roughly belong in three groups. The first is well researched and in strong global demand (examples are wheat maize and rice, but also potatoes, apples or oilseeds like sunflower or palm nuts). The second group has only sporadically attracted researchers’ attention and is basically only used in specific world regions (sorghum, millets, sweet potatoes or okra, for example). Species of the third group are only known locally and to few experts.

The neglect of the third group is putting food security at risk. Unfortunately, policies of the past only focused on fighting hunger in the narrow sense of providing sufficient amounts of calories. Plants that are rich in protein and micronutrients did not get sufficient attention. They are, however, essential if masses of people are to enjoy balanced diets. For some 2 billion people around the world, that has become barely affordable.

Sustainable Development Goals

There are many reasons to invest more in so far neglected crops. Doing so would help to eliminate poverty (SDG1) and eradicate hunger (SDG2). Traditional varieties tend to be resilient and particularly well-adapted to local environments of areas stricken by poverty. Cultivation costs are therefore comparatively low. These plants provide healthy food even in extreme ecological settings.

Traditionally grown species, moreover, protect people from malnutrition. They contain essential nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants as well as micronutrients like iron, zinc or vitamin A. This is very important especially for children, women and elderly people.

Traditional plant varieties generally require neither much water nor much fertiliser. They facilitate low-input agriculture because they suit the ecosystems in which rural communities have been cultivating them for centuries.

The climate dimension

In view of global heating, environmental viability matters at both local and global levels. Traditional varieties offer rural families who depend on subsistence farming some protection against the impacts of extreme weather. Moreover, they allow them to earn some money by selling produce on local markets.

Internationally, the prevalent global agri-food system is emitting about one third of all of humankind’s greenhouse gases. The reason is its huge demand for inputs and energy. At the same time, climate impacts are making the deficits of the global system’s narrow focus increasingly more obvious. High-yielding rice varieties are becoming unviable for smallholders in eastern India, for example.

In large parts of Africa and Latin America, drought and heat are also increasingly hampering maize cultivation. Sorghum and millets would be more resilient alternatives. They also have the advantage of growing faster. In some regions, farmers are already being advised to switch. The switch to these traditional crops would be easier of course, if they were better researched and had been bred systematically.

Transformation to sustainability

A rethink has begun, both in science and international policy making. In 2024, for example, the G7 ministers for international development declared themselves in favour of “climate-resilient, sustainable food systems” and stressed the relevance of agricultural biodiversity. They pointed out, for example, that it is essential to conserve plant genetic diversity in seed banks.

A full transformation towards sustainability will require change at three levels:

• the supply of seeds,
• the demand for seeds and
• the policy environment.

The supply-side is shaped by research and breeding in formal as well as informal contexts. Multilateral, governmental and private actors all have a role to play. They must pay more attention to so far neglected species.

An important opportunity for promoting this paradigm shift is the ongoing redefinition of the portfolio of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Two of its prominent members are the International Rice Research Institute in Manila and the International Potato Center in Lima. One must not overestimate the CGIAR’s influence, but it has certainly contributed very much to the concentration of the current global agri-food system.

On the demand side, agriculture and food-processing industries determine which plants are grown and what products are marketed. Ultimately, consumer choices matter too, of course. When a good is in popular demand, suppliers will strive to produce a lot of it.

An agenda for development policy

Policy must thus set the right incentives and disincentives. International-development policy is particularly important, not least because these government departments contribute massively to CGIAR funding. By making the right budget decisions, governments can make the paradigm shift happen. Policymakers should therefore:

• support efforts to research and breed so far neglected and under-utilised species,
• promote seed banks that conserve plant-genetic resources and keep seeds available,
• involve low- and middle-income countries’ national agricultural research systems in international contexts,
• ensure that farmers, who best understand traditional varieties and their benefits, are involved, as well as,
• set the right incentives for agriculture and the food industry, for example by reducing investment risks,
• offer training to staff from agricultural-extension and rural-advisory services,
• learn the lessons of successfully revitalised plants such as spelt, quinoa and moringa, and on this basis,
• support the development of local, regional and global supply chains for these plants.

The success of development policy always hinges on good cooperation of all parties based on partnership principles. Ultimately, the goal is to improve the opportunities of disadvantaged people in ways that enable them to take their fate into their own hands instead of suffering helplessly.

Hildegard Lingnau is the executive secretary of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAiR), which is hosted by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in Montpellier, France.
h.lingnau@cgiar.org 

Stefan Schmitz is the executive director of the Crop Trust, the international Bonn-based organisation committed to conservation and use of crop diversity.
stefan.schmitz@croptrust.org