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International Symposium "Underutilized Plant Species for Food, Nutrition, Income and Sustainable Development", Arusha, Tanzania March 2-8, 2008
Underutilized plants are species with under-exploited
potential for contributing to food security and nutrition by combating ‘hidden hunger’ caused by micronutrient deficiencies; they often have medicinal properties and other multiple uses; they provide options for improved incomes to the poor, and for environmental services to the global community.
These species collectively receive little attention from research, extension services, farmers, policy and decision makers, donors, technology providers and consumers, yet they form intricate components for the wellbeing of millions of people. Many have an untapped potential for processing into refreshments and snacks and for marketing in the domestic and regional markets, thus providing poor people with new income opportunities.
An international Symposium was convened in Arusha, Tanzania 3–7 March 2008. 209 participants from 54 countries came together to share and discuss approaches to promote underutilized plants in four main areas of importance: food security, nutrition and health, income generation, and environmental sustainability.
The Symposium was co-convened under the umbrella of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) by the Sri Lanka-based International Centre for Underutilised Crops and the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species, Bioversity International, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, GlobalHort and AVRDC–The World Vegetable Center, whose Regional Office for Africa was the local host.
The Symposium recognised the need to provide a global forum for exchange and debate on issues related to the promotion of underutilized plants. Dr Hannah Jaenicke, Director of ICUC and the main convener of the Symposium stated: “Many researchers and development specialists are working on different aspects of evaluating so-called underutilized crops. But they suffer from a lack of coordination and often have no access to relevant information elsewhere, as much of it is not published.”
She said: “Many underutilized crops are plants used by the poor to meet their daily needs; they are not high priorities for national governments as are commodity crops. Many of the people working on these plants feel isolated. This symposium provided a unique opportunity for experts from around the world to meet and exchange ideas and develop strategies for future collaboration.”
The symposium resulted in the formulation of a number of recommendations.
The Symposium was co-convened and co-funded by ICUC, ISHS, GFU, AVRDC, GlobalHort, Bioversity, PROTA, FARA, CIDA, CTA, SDC and Sida. The Kirkhouse Trust and WrenMedia also provided significant support.
Latest News:
The latest edition of New Agriculturist (WrenMedia) focuses on neglected crops. Also included in this edition is a points of view featuring some of your viewpoints on how to make more of undervalued crops. A selection of audio soundbites can also be heard in the podcast (http://www.new-ag.info/listen.php) which starts and ends in Arusha market.
"Crops for the Future" will be the new name for the merger of the GFU and the ICUC. It is not yet defined when the merge will occur however they will be operating under the same umbrella. See the brochure "Crops for the future: Paths out of Poverty" for more background information. The Strategic Plan for the new entity is now available.
Resources
Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products (ASNPP)
Bioversity International Neglected and Underutilized Species
Botanic Gardens Conservation International
Center for New Crops & Plant Products (Purdue University)
Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species
The International Center for Underutilized Crops
The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC)
Lost Crops of Africa. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press
Agroforestry Database (Search)
BCGI Plant Search (Search) Botanic Gardens Conservation International index.
ePIC - Electronic Plant Information Centre (Search) A major project making Kew's digitised information about plants available online. It searches through Kew's collections, bibliographies, nomenclators and checklists, publications and taxonomic works, as well as external links and content on Kew's website.
E-PROSEA (Search) Plant Resources of South-East Asia
GFU Underutilized Species GFU Database (Search)
GFU Underutilized Species GFU Database (Browse)
Hortivar (Search) FAO´s database on performances of horticulture cultivars in relation to agro-ecological conditions, cultivation practices, the occurrence of pests and diseases and timing of the production. It covers six categories of horticultural crops: fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers, ornamentals, mushrooms, herbs and condiments.
NewCrop (Search/Browse)
Plants of Southern Africa (Search)
Plants for a Future (Search) A resource centre for rare and unusual plants, particularly those which have edible, medicinal or other uses. 7,300 plants listed.
Plantzafrica (Search) Plants native to Southern Africa.
PROTABASE (Search/Browse) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa
Try-African-Food.Com Felix Muchiri Waweru is a student presently enrolled in the Masters of Plant Breeding and Genetics Program at the University of Nairobi. He has come up with a very informative and entertaining website that showcases the vast assortment of African food. He says that there are many "lost varieties" that have healthy nutritive values. The creation of this website started when he began working on a project of empowering resource poor farmers in Kenya by exploiting new markets through e-commerce. This website is 6 months old and it is gaining traffic daily. In this site you will find information on such vegetables as stinging nettle (thabai), cowpea leaves (Kunde) and many more. Mr. Waweu would like to collaborate with others to make this efforts a success.