Harnessing crop diversity for sustainable food production

Onome Amuge

Crop diversity, which refers to the number and types of plants that are cultivated for food, as well as the genetic diversity within these crops, is considered crucial for ensuring that crops are resilient to pests, diseases, and climate change, and for developing new varieties that are more nutritious, productive, and adaptable to different growing conditions.

Based on its relevance to global food sustainance, the conservation and sustainable use of crop diversity has been made a priority under international law and policy. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and its Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) are responsible for implementing the international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, which aims to safeguard crop diversity and promote its use for food security and sustainable agriculture.  The FAO also works with other international organisations and governments to promote the conservation and sustainable use of crop diversity, as well as to encourage equitable access to and benefit sharing of crop genetic resources. This has resulted in various innovations. For instance, scientists are working on developing new varieties of staple crops like wheat that can tolerate heat and drought, which are expected to increase in many regions with climate change including Nigeria. It has also led to the  development of varieties of fruits and vegetables that have higher levels of antioxidants, vitamins, and other nutrients. Other researchers are working to preserve crop diversity by studying traditional varieties that may contain traits that have been lost in modern varieties, such as resistance to specific pests or drought.  Agriculture analysts argue that by preserving and utilising crop diversity, food supply can be made resilient and sustainable in the face of a changing world.

However, various researches have shown that the world’s crop diversity is currently under threat due to a variety of factors, including habitat loss, climate change, and the dominance of a few crop varieties over others. This makes safeguarding crop diversity a critical global concern being that crop diversity is essential for ensuring future food and nutrition security.

The FAO report “State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture” highlights the lack of diversity in the world’s food systems. While an estimated 20,000 plants have been used for food throughout history, just 200 of them make up the majority of food production today. The nine most widely used crops – wheat, maize, rice, potatoes, barley, soybeans, sorghum, cassava, and sweet potatoes – account for 66 per cent of the global food supply. This lack of diversity in the food system has made it vulnerable to climate change, disease, pests, and other shocks. Without more diverse crops.

The loss of crop diversity, also known as crop genetic erosion, is also a serious and increasing problem, according to a report by the Crop Trust. The report stated that rapid changes in the environment, technology, and society are causing the diversity of crops and their wild relatives to disappear at an alarming rate, especially in areas of high biodiversity. These changes include climate change, which is affecting the growing conditions for crops and their wild relatives; changes in agricultural practices, such as the widespread adoption of monoculture farming; the emergence and spread of new pests and diseases; and conflict, which can lead to the destruction of crops and farmland.

The international nonprofit organisation, with a mission to conserve and make available the world’s crop diversity for food security,highlighted the importance of maintaining crop diversity in genebanks, which are collections of seeds and other plant materials that are stored for the long term. While genebanks provide a valuable resource for protecting and preserving crop diversity, the report warned that this diversity can still be lost if genebanks are not properly maintained.

A report from SpringerLink titled “Crop Diversity, Its Conservation and Use for Better Food Systems”, emphasises the importance of genetic diversity for the future of agriculture. The report explained that crop varieties and their wild relatives contain a wealth of genetic diversity that can be used to develop new crop varieties. This diversity,it stated, is essential for helping farmers and breeders adapt to changing environmental conditions.

The report notes that the current rate of development of new crop varieties is not sufficient to keep pace with the changing climate and growing demand for food. It therefore suggested greater investment in research and development to harness the full potential of genetic diversity and create the new varieties that will be needed in the future.

“In an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, titled “Harnessing Crop Diversity”, the authors present opportunities for enhancing the diversity of crops at multiple levels. This includes conservation of crop diversity in both natural environments (in situ) and seed banks (ex situ), and increasing the genetic diversity of existing crop species through the use of traditional and modern breeding techniques. The article also highlights the importance of expanding the range of species that are grown and consumed, to provide a more diverse and resilient food system.

The authors of the PNAS article also suggest a number of additional opportunities for harnessing crop diversity. These include broadening participation in crop diversity management to address the needs of marginalized and vulnerable groups, as well as improving the health of soils and ecosystems through the use of more diverse cropping systems.

The article emphasises that increasing global nutritional resilience will require more than just improving the nutritional content of existing staple crops. It noted that this will require a holistic approach that considers the entire “crop domestication triangle” – the dynamic relationships between plants, humans, and ecosystems. This approach,it explained, involves diversifying the crops grown and consumed, and developing agricultural systems that are better adapted to changing environmental conditions. The authors argue that this will require a fundamental shift in the approach to food production and consumption, and that it is essential for achieving food security in the face of a changing climate.

The authors also advocate for the strategic use of “forgotten food crops” – crops that have been historically important in certain regions but have been neglected in recent years. These crops often have traits that make them particularly well-suited to the culture and environment of sub-Saharan Africa, and they may be able to fill important nutritional gaps. The authors suggest that these crops can be “reactivated” by integrating them into current food systems, both on a small-scale for home consumption and on a larger scale for commercial use.

According to the authors, data-driven, decentralised approaches to crop diversity management are necessary to build flexible and resilient food systems. This type of approach involves using gender and socioeconomic data to inform decision-making about crop diversity, rather than relying solely on agricultural and environmental data.