Articles
Forgotten foods: a manifesto for the future of the food system?
Article number
1384_1
Pages
1 – 10
Language
English
Abstract
The current global food crisis demonstrates the vulnerability of a global agrifood system that relies on a handful of calorific staple crops grown as industrial monocultures in a few exporting countries to feed nearly 8 billion people.
We need to transform the agrifood system with diverse, climate-resilient, and nutritious forgotten crops, novel cropping systems, and less vulnerable supply chains if it is to meet the needs of 10 billion people on a warming planet without destroying the planetary ecosystems on which we all depend.
Diversification requires collective actions underpinned by a scientific evidence base to identify the best climate-resilient, nutritious, and desirable crop species for current and future environments.
We present a global knowledge base for underutilised crops, CropBASE, developed by Crops For the Future (CFF) that allows end-users to choose the most suitable crop diversification opportunities for their situations, how these alternatives compare with business-as-usual with mainstream crops.
We also show how hitherto forgotten and underutilised crops can provide livelihood opportunities for farming communities, healthier and more diverse diets for consumers and fewer demands on the natural environment.
Diversification options are provided for different crops and agroecological environments and examples are given of how such an approach can transition the global agrifood system from its current reliance on fossil foods that rely on fossil fuels at each stage of the value chain to diverse climate-resilient and nutritious future foods. We also show how a global knowledge system, such as CropBASE, can underpin the Global Plan of Action for Forgotten Foods proposed in the Global Manifesto for Forgotten Foods (https://www.gfar.net/documents/global-manifesto-forgotten-foods) that was launched in 2021.
We need to transform the agrifood system with diverse, climate-resilient, and nutritious forgotten crops, novel cropping systems, and less vulnerable supply chains if it is to meet the needs of 10 billion people on a warming planet without destroying the planetary ecosystems on which we all depend.
Diversification requires collective actions underpinned by a scientific evidence base to identify the best climate-resilient, nutritious, and desirable crop species for current and future environments.
We present a global knowledge base for underutilised crops, CropBASE, developed by Crops For the Future (CFF) that allows end-users to choose the most suitable crop diversification opportunities for their situations, how these alternatives compare with business-as-usual with mainstream crops.
We also show how hitherto forgotten and underutilised crops can provide livelihood opportunities for farming communities, healthier and more diverse diets for consumers and fewer demands on the natural environment.
Diversification options are provided for different crops and agroecological environments and examples are given of how such an approach can transition the global agrifood system from its current reliance on fossil foods that rely on fossil fuels at each stage of the value chain to diverse climate-resilient and nutritious future foods. We also show how a global knowledge system, such as CropBASE, can underpin the Global Plan of Action for Forgotten Foods proposed in the Global Manifesto for Forgotten Foods (https://www.gfar.net/documents/global-manifesto-forgotten-foods) that was launched in 2021.
Authors
S.N. Azam-Ali, E. Jahanshiri
Keywords
knowledge systems, underutilised crops, agrobiodiversity, bambara groundnut, hemp, climate resilience, diversification
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